The Ten Things I Hate Most
by Livelaughlove2597
Summary: Meet Rose Weasley. At 16, the things she hates most include her hair, her freckles, losing, and of course, at the very top of the list, Scorpius Malfoy.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: the lovely JKR owns all.**

My name is Rose. Rose Jean Weasley.

I am 16, in sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

And here is a list of the ten things I hate most. In order from least to greatest for your convenience. Do keep it handy.

10. My freckles. I am literally covered with them. I don't know why I can't just tan, but it relates to number 9 on the list.

9. My hair. It is a coppery, gingery, fiery, curly, frizzy mess that looks unkempt on good days and positively wild on all others. Because of this I also have incredibly pale skin, hence the freckles.

8. My wardrobe. Half of it is still from when I was a tomboy and had no interest in shopping. The other half is wizard robes.

7. My immediate family sometimes. My parents, the joint saviours of the wizarding world along with my godfather/pseudo-uncle, are extremely overprotective. Especially my dad. Mum will never let me forget that they are the reason my world is safe. And my brother goes through certain strange obsessions. Like the muggle television show The Teletubbies when he was little. And playing ridiculous pranks when he was 7 or 8. Muggle extreme sports like skydiving a year ago (since Mum and Dad, being overprotective, wouldn't let him jump off an airplane, he jumped off his broom). And currently, yoga.

6. My extended family, on occasion. This is only when they're being either embarrassing in public places or complete arses. Which, for quite a few of them, is about 80 percent of the time. Plus, they are the reason for number 9, my hair, and whenever I see them I am reminded of my own predicament.

5. My broom. Ever since Hugo's quidditch obsession when he first came to Hogwarts and used my broom, the tail twigs are all twisted to the left. (Don't ask.) As a result, it lists to the left, meaning I have to lean to the right to fly straight. Very bad for a Keeper. Yet my parents won't get me another one, because in case I ever have to battle against an evil, powerful wizard attempting to take over the world and make himself immortal, I should know how to do without. See number 7 for further explanation.

4. Enclosed spaces. This is probably the reason I have never been caught snogging someone in a broom closet.

3. Divination. It is pointless. Is it a donkey? Is it a dog? Who the hell cares?

2. Losing. Whether in quidditch matches, the house cup, exams, chess, cards, class debates, arguments...you name it.

1. Scorpius Malfoy. No explanation needed.

**Hey, so I had this idea at 12 at night and I just wrote it out to try it. It's just a little taster. Generally, my chapters will be longer. I just wanted to see if anyone likes it and it's worth writing more. If I get a good response, I will continue. Please review!**

**~livelaughlove25**


	2. A Ferret and a Weasel

_Do you get, do you get a little kick out of being simple minded?_

_You want to be like your father_

_It's approval you're after_

_Well that's not how you find it_

**Disclaimer: the lovely JKR owns all. Above quote from Fuck You by Lily Allen.**

"You ARSE!" I scream as I slap Scorpius Malfoy across the face.

Now before you judge me, allow me to backtrack. Malfoy had just pushed me from behind and I had fallen, my books spilling out everywhere.

Malfoy just smirks before sweeping off towards the Charms classroom.

Al bends down and helps me pick up my things.

"Al, why are you friends with that prick?" I ask through gritted teeth as we are crouched on the floor side by side.

Al sighs. "He's normally nice, Rosie, you just bring out the beast in him."

"Yeah, right, blame the redhead-" I cut myself off as I lunge for my Charms essay someone is about to step on. My hand gets there, but so does the boy's foot.

"OW!" I scream in pain, sure the bones in my hand are crushed. "Bloody hell!"

"Oh I'm so sorry Rose!" I look up into the concerned (and quite handsome) face of Josh Higgins. "I was in a rush, and I wasn't looking. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I mutter. Josh smiles once more before walking off.

Albus stuffs the rest of my things into my bag and slings it on my shoulder. "Come on. We don't want to be late for charms. Professor Abbott-Longbottom will purse up her lips again and you know it means detention."

**-TTIHM-**

"And then I said, 'Can you believe it? He jumped down a rabbit hole!' " James finishes his (made-up) anecdote and the whole Gryffindor table bursts into laughter.

I sigh and roll my eyes. James' jokes got old for me a long time ago.

Dom slides in beside me, after giving one of James' admirers a glare to make her move.

"Merlin, I hate Herbology," she grumbles. "Damn Mandrake nearly burst my eardrum."

"Charms was pretty awful too," I say. "This first year was in there practising for some reason, and I swear he was aiming his cushion at me."

"Sharing sob stories once again?" enquires Lily from a bit over. "Well you'll love this: Francis Macmillan asked me out."

James stops mid-anecdote. "What?"

"Relax, Jamesie," says Dom, rolling her eyes.

"I cannot!" shouts James. "I have to teach this arse a lesson for hitting on my baby sister!"

And he stalks around the tables calling for Francis.

"Should we stop him?" I ask. "Before he makes a fool of himself?"

"Nah," says Lily, checking her reflection in her gleaming nails.

**-TTIHM-**

Someone shoves me from behind and I fall once again. This time, my bag actually splits open.

"Seriously?!" I yell. I hear a low chuckle behind and turn around to look. It's Malfoy, of course.

"What have I ever done to you?" I demand.

"Didn't you slap me just this morning?" he says innocently. I growl and stomp off, before remembering my books. And I have no Al to help. My Potions essay, this time, is about to be stepped on. I'm careful to grab only the edge. Big mistake, as it turns out. I try to tug it out from the person's foot and it ends up ripping right in half.

The little second year mumbles an apology and sprints away from me and my murderous glare.

Malfoy is still behind me,_ still_ laughing. I toss an ink pot over my shoulder and am satisfied when hear it shatter and a curse from Malfoy.

Casting _reparo_ on my essay and bag and shoving everything in, I run toward DADA. Malfoy has this class with me and is following me, so I make sure to keep far enough ahead so that he can't push me once more.

He catches up to me at the door and we walk in. It takes me a second to realise that everyone is staring openmouthed at us.

"What are you all staring at?" snaps Malfoy. "The weasel got the ink on my shirt! I didn't put it there on purpose!"

I look at him and notice he has an indigo blotch on the chest of his otherwise clean white shirt. He scowls at me as he scourgifies it. I smile back smugly.

Al clears his throat. "Did you two, er... Did you walk in... together?"

"What?" I shout at the same time as Malfoy demands, "What potion are you on?"

Albus raises his eyebrows. "Alright, no."

"Damn right," I huff before sitting down. Unfortunately I was nearly late, meaning there are only two seats left and I have to sit beside Malfoy.

Oh well. If he annoys me I can always throw more ink at him.

Professor Shacklebolt announces that today is about duelling. We are going to have a tournament and the winner gets Honeydukes store credit.

Excellent. I need to replenish my supply of Sugar Quills.

I start off duelling Dom. I beat her easily with a Jelly-Legs Jinx.

The next person I duel is one of the girls in my dorm, Alice. She almost gets me with a Stunning Spell, but I dodge and hit her with a Bat Bogey Hex. In this manner I beat people until there is only one other person left. Wouldn't you know it, it is Scorpius Malfoy.

We bow stiffly to one other. As soon as Kingsley says to begin, hex after hex after hex is shot. I start with a Stunning Spell, which he blocks and retaliates with Impedimenta. I dodge and send the curse my mom was famous for, the evil little canaries. It hits him, but one swipe of his wand and the birds turn to smoke. We send an Expalliarmus each. The spells bounce off each other in the air. I shout, i"Levicorpus"/i the same time as Malfoy does. Suddenly, both of us are in the air by one ankle. The whole class ooh's. Everyone knows that the first person to give in and break their concentration will lose, and I am determined it won't be me. The little ferret may be able to push me around but I will NOT let him beat me at this.

We hold stares as we aim our wands. Malfoy starts to go red and I know I am too. Soon, it becomes very hard to even point my wand as all the blood rushes to my head. Malfoy's face is now red as a tomato and screwed up in concentration. I'm sure mine doesn't look much better.

I have no idea how long this lasts. Eventually, through the blood pounding in my ears, I hear Shacklebolt tell us we tie. He says to lower our wands.

No! I know what'll happen. If I lower my wand Malfoy will keep his up and I'll have lost. There is no way I'm lowering my wand.

Our wands stay pointed at each other. I am desperately fighting to keep conscious now.

I see Shacklebolt raise his wand, point it between us and shout something. Suddenly I drop to the ground and so does Malfoy.

I'm not sure what happened, but my head is hurting like I've been trampled by a Hippogriff. It takes all my effort not to pass out. Dimly I hear Shacklebolt announce a tie and send us off for lunch.

I slowly get up and stagger out the door, purposely bumping into Malfoy in the process. At this point he isn't really much stronger than me. We both fall into the doorframe.

Shacklebolt sighs and sends us off.

**-TTIHM-**

"Congratulations on winning that duel," Lily says at dinner. "Even the fourth years were talking about it."

"I didn't win," I say bitterly. "I tied with that little squit. Shacklebolt cast Protego between us when we were both upside down."

"But you tied for first," says Lily confusedly. "That's still a win!"

"It isn't!" I say. "Winning is when everyone else loses!"

Dom chuckles. "I think the blood hasn't completely flowed out of your head yet."

I make a face at her and turn away. I think she might be right; I still have a headache. I let my eyes stray over to the Slytherin table. Al waves at me. Malfoy is beside him, his head in his hands.

Good. I may not have beat him but at least I put up a good fight.

**-TTHIM-**

The ferret is in our common room again. Whenever we bring Al in, he comes too. I try to discourage this but earn an elbow in the ribs from Dom. I suspect she may fancy him a tad. But then, she may just be gold digging. Everyone knows his family has enough gold to keep a small country afloat for a decade or so.

Anyway, the point is that Malfoy is in our common room. I'm chatting with Fred and attempting to ignore his presence. It's made impossible by one of the girls in my dorm hanging onto his arm and letting out an irritating, high pitched giggle like a steam whistle every now and then that grates on my nerves. I don't know what all the girls see in him. I mean, sure, he's tall and somewhat good looking, and a Quidditch player, so he has muscles, and smart, and incredibly rich, but if you're going by personality, he's a troll. I glare over at them.

Malfoy sees and just smirks at me, mouthing the word jealous. I can feel my hands clenching into fists.

"Easy there, lioness," Fred jokes. "He's not all yours, you know."

"What?" I exclaim. "I hate him!"

"Sure," Fred winks before puckering up his lips and pretending to kiss the air.

As my older cousin, shouldn't he be a little more protective of me and a little less encouraging of debauchery? Especially with the one I hate?

I growl in frustration and stomp out the common room door though I know curfew will be past in less than fifteen minutes.

I wander through the halls with no real destination, just attempting to take out my frustration at Malfoy. He's such a prick sometimes. I remember back to first year when we met.

I was lugging my bags down the corridor of the train when he popped out of a compartment and I ran into him. He just looked at me before he seemed to realise who I was. His big ugly friends stepped out too.

"Hey, it's a weasel!" said the stupider looking one.

"Get back in here, Malfoy," sneered the other one. "No need to speak to that blood traitor filth."

Malfoy's face, which had been expressionless, morphed into a smirk. His friends pulled him back into the compartment and slammed the door in my face.

Of course, my negative opinion of him was only reinforced by what my dad had told me. And ever since then, he'd been a complete git to me, though he was nice enough to the rest of my family. Albus, that traitor, even befriended him since both were in Slytherin.

I stuck to my dad's advice and did my best to beat him at everything. He is clever, I have to say that. Honours for top marks in every class always fluctuated in between us. We were fiercely competing for O.W.L.'s, there were even bets on who would get better marks. In the end, everyone lost when both of us got all O's. We are both Keepers on our respective Quidditch teams, meaning it was always about who let in more goals. This was one of my biggest challenges because of my broom, number 5 on the list of thing I hate. Also, as mentioned before, I hate losing and I hate Malfoy. Losing to Malfoy is sort of a whole other level of humiliation and pain and self-disgust. Unfortunately, it has happened.

I realise it must be past curfew. I hear footsteps behind me and quickly duck into an alcove. As the footsteps come nearer, I can't help sneezing at the dust around me. I attempt to muffle it, but the footsteps have stopped. I pray it's not Filch. I hear a whispered ilumos/i and as a wand lights up, I see it's Malfoy.

Bugger. I think I'd rather it was old Filch.

"What are you doing here Weasley?" he asks, surprised.

"Trying to avoid you," I tell him. "So sod off!"

"That's not very nice," he smirks, maddeningly calmly. How is it possible I don't make him at least a fraction as angry as he makes me?

"Well, neither are you," I hiss, stepping closer. "In fact, you're downright rude. Is it really necessary to push me at every possible turn?"

"Do I make you angry?" he mocks.

"Yes, you do, you little ferret," I growl, my hands curling into fists. "But then, I should just be glad you're not a Death Eater like certain members of your family I could mention."

His silvery grey eyes flash and I smile smugly. I know this is the one thing that gets to him. He stalks closer, forcing me back against the wall, then bends down.

"Don't you dare say anything like that again," he snarls, his face barely two inches away from mine, his chest pressed up against me.

I widen my eyes, looking up at him in mock innocence. "Why, Malfoy? Do I make you angry?"

His hands curl into fists and I think I may have pushed him a bit too far. In the light from his wand I see him grit his teeth.

A hiss sounds from below and we both look down in surprise. Mrs. Norris the Third glares up at us out of yellow eyes, then hisses once more and walks off, no doubt to fetch old Filch.

"Well, that's my cue to leave," I smile sweetly and bat my eyelashes at Malfoy before turning to walk away.

He grabs my wrist tightly from behind and I can't help my wince of pain as he roughly pulls me back to face him. "I'm not done with you, Weasley!"

I can see the heat in his eyes and I'm a little scared, but I make sure not to show my fear. "Really? Well that's too bad, because I'm done here."

I wrench my wrist from his grasp and turn around. As I walk down the hall, I hear footsteps from behind Malfoy and then Filch lecturing him. I'm too far away for Filch to notice in the dark of the corridor, and as I whisper the password to the Fat Lady and slip into the common room, I smile to myself, satisfied I've gotten Malfoy a detention.

Weasel 1, Ferret 0.

**A/N: Hope you like it, please review! Finally fixed my spacing issues XD**

**Toujours, Livelaughlove25**


	3. My Traitorous Family

_You got a plastic girl in a plastic bed_

_And she's in your house made of gingerbread _

_You got a plastic smile on a plastic face _

_But it's underneath you can't erase_

**Disclaimer; as much as I wish this was mine, we know it's JK Rowling's. Song lyrics come from Plastic by Alanis Morissette.**

"You ARSE!" I scream as I kick Malfoy in the shin.

My mornings have become strangely redundant.

This time, the little ferret had spilt pumpkin juice all over my clean robes.

"Good job, Weasley!" he says, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise. "That one almost hurt!"

I swing my ten-ton bag into his stomach and knock him breathless. He's doubled over, panting.

"Did that one hurt, Malfoy?" I snarl at him before sitting at the table once more.

He's wheezing as he staggers back to the Slytherin table. Good. If the prat tries to annoy me again today he'll get his comeuppance.

**-TTIHM-**

In Charms, we're learning Aguamenti, which I mastered the day Malfoy set my eyebrows on fire. Bored, I spin my wand around, shooting random jets of water everywhere. One gets Malfoy in the mouth. I have the satisfaction of seeing him cough and splutter. And I wasn't even aiming at him! Just goes to show, we were born to be enemies.

Malfoy is glaring at me, his eyes narrowed. He thinks he looks scary doing that, but I think he just looks ridiculous. I stick my tongue out at him. He sticks his out right back.

Professor Abbott-Longbottom, or Aunt Hannah, as she is to me during holidays, frowns at us. She knows a verbal fight is coming, followed by a duel, followed by a physical brawl. I sit back in my seat, deciding not to put her through that today.

"Rose," whispers Al. "I can't get this!"

I demonstrate the proper wand movement to Al. Dom looks like she needs help too, so I start to get up to go help her. Before I'm even completely out of my seat, she turns to Malfoy and asks him to help her with a sweet smile.

Gritting my teeth, I sit back down. The traitor.

**-TTHIM-**

"So what if I like him?" demands Dom in response to my question.

"It's not allowed!" I whisper. "You're a Weasley! He's a Malfoy!"

"You're so old fashioned," Dom tells me distastefully.

"How are you not understanding this!" I shout whisper. "Weasels and ferrets, even in nature, do not mate!"

"Maybe that's true," Dom says. "But we're not animals. He's human and I'm mostly human."

"You're part human, part Veela with a little bit of werewolf in there for good measure," I remind her. "And I'm still not entirely convinced Malfoy isn't a troll."

"Ha ha," says Dom sarcastically. I give her up as a lost cause and look around for the rest of my family.

James is trying to impress some girl, as usual. Fred is sitting beside him, looking bored. Lily and Roxie had their heads together, and were whispering to each other. Hmmmm...wonder what that's about.

Louis was surrounded by a gaggle of admiring girls. I suppose, even as a male, being part Veela has that effect. Hugo is beside him, making some sort of strange hand movement around his head. Probably adjusting his chakras. They apparently can get quite skewed if you don't take the time to do your Sun Salutations every morning. I hate to think of the state mine are in.

Molly and Lucy are sitting together at the Ravenclaw table, Molly talking and Lucy nodding and listening. No doubt she's giving Lucy another lecture on how important it is to be a prefect. Poor girl certainly gets the lecture enough, her parents are quite obsessed too.

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander are also at the Ravenclaw table, one of them looking through rainbow coloured spectacles at the ceiling and one anxiously following the other's gaze. They take after their mother, those two.

Finally, at the Slytherin table sits the traitor of the family, Albus Severus Potter. What makes him traitorous is not his house. Rather, it's the person he's currently sitting beside, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. And now Dom is going the same way.

Surprisingly enough, the only people in my family who actually dislike Malfoy are James, Dad, Grandad and me. The majority of them put up with him, and those like Al and Dom who have gone over completely to the Dark Side like him. The four of us that don't like him stick to our traditions. Solid, time-honoured traditions, I might add.

Although he's quite close with my family, I've never actually met Ferret Senior and Mrs. Ferret. I've seen them at the station at the beginning of every year dropping him off, but I've never spoken to them. And I plan to keep it that way.

**-TTHIM-**

I'm in Defense and I'm bored. It usually doesn't happen in this class, because Professor Shacklebolt keeps it interesting, but, as he said with a sigh, theory of defensive spells is Ministry curriculum required. So everyone is reading a chapter in the textbook that I read before boarding the train to Hogwarts in September.

I let my eyes wander around the classroom. Oh, hell. Malfoy is done too. I know what this means. Shacklebolt will have us quiz each other on the subject. Sure enough, he strides over and motions at us to pair up.

I sigh and drag my feet over to Malfoy's desk and perch on the edge. I motion for him to go first.

"What is the purpose of a defensive spell?" he asks, for once sounding bored instead of hostile.

"To protect oneself or one's companion from hexes, jinxes and curses with harmful intent or the potential to be harmful," I rattle off. I ask him one and he responds just as quickly and just as apathetically. And so it goes.

**-TTHIM-**

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_School is fine, if a little boring. I'm getting O's in everything, even Divination, which you know I detest. I finally found out how to please Trelawney - predict imminent death about forty different ways. Guess how Malfoy's going to die?_

_Uncle Neville says to thank you for the Mimbulus mimbletonia you sent Simon for Christmas. Aunt Hannah apparently doesn't as every time she attempts to go near it, it spews her with its pus. She refuses to go near any greenhouses now._

_Oh, and James wants to talk to one of you for help with History of Magic. He has to write an essay on one member of the Golden Trio but Binns has forbidden him from doing it on Uncle Harry. And of course, the boy wasn't paying attention in class when the lesson on you two was going on - you know James. He says if I convince one of you to help him he'll go and get my broomstick serviced. You know, the one that Hugo ruined that you still won't replace? So please help him._

_Hugo wants me to convince you to get him a new yoga mat and one of those cork block things. I'd rather you cured him of the obsession. If he keeps going this way he's going to end up with a cat obsession when he's old and still single. If you know what I mean._

_Lily, Roxie, Fred, Al, and Dom send their love. Tell Teddy, wherever he's wandered off to, that I want him to come visit. And tell Grandad Arthur I found him a battery and Nana Molly I went to try and get cooking lessons from the house elves but they refused. Tell Uncle George I want whatever new genius product he's come out with this time that Fred is hinting at but won't tell me._

_Oh, and Mum, reassure Dad I'm still staying far, far away from Scorpius Malfoy._

_All my love, Rosie_

I roll up my letter and slide it into the little scroll pouch I have. Putting my quill in my bag, I set off for the Owlery.

When I reach, I look for the little white owl I got from Uncle Harry on my thirteenth birthday.

"Snowflake!" I call out, now searching for her in the little nooks in the wall. She flies down gracefully and lands on my outstretched wrist. I tie the pouch to her leg and feed her a treat. She nips me affectionately and flies off, out of the top.

I turn at the sound of someone's footsteps. "Malfoy! What are you doing here?"

"Plotting a murder, obviously," he says, rolling his eyes. "I'm sending a letter, what d'you think?"

I huff and stomp out. I hear him walk after me a while later and spin around again. "Why are you following me?"

"Someone's a little full of themselves," he chuckles. "Believe me, I have no wish to follow you, I'm going back to the castle."

I deliberately stomp on his foot and walk ahead, my nose in the air. He's laughing again. I hate when he doesn't take me seriously.

**-TTHIM-**

James is being disgusting again. And so is Fred. The two of them are having an eating contest, but are smack talking each other as they eat. Has no one taught them not to speak with their mouths full? Seriously, they are spraying food everywhere.

See, this is what I meant when I said my extended family can be public embarrassments.

I'm ignoring them. I'm also ignoring Dom, who is over at the Slytherin table, running her hand over Malfoy's bicep while smiling up at him. I scowl and shudder. Merlin, that's nauseating.

Malfoy quirks an eyebrow and smirks at me. Wonderful. He's seen me scowl. I will never hear the end of this from him.

I pointedly turn away and begin talking to Lily. At least I can count on someone to be normal.

One of Lily's friends is staring at Dom flirting with Malfoy. I wave my hand in front of her face. She doesn't respond.

"It's alright," Lily tells me. "She's just hoping to pick up flirting tips from Dom."

"Yeah, well, Dom certainly knows how to flirt," I mutter, glancing back at them. She's fixing his collar (that didn't need fixing, I might add) and letting her hands linger on his chest.

I may be sick.

"I think if they had kids, their kids would be really nice looking," Lily says contemplatively.

Kill me now.

**-TTHIM-**

Malfoy and Dom are in the common room, Dom hanging onto his arm. I take one look at them and march up to my dorm, deciding I can do my homework better when I don't have to fight to keep my food down.

There's only one other girl up there, Jasmine. I ask her why she is upstairs.

"James is trying to prank me somehow," she tells me. "I really don't want to ingest a Love or Lust Potion by accident and then be seen by the whole school chasing after James. And it wouldn't be to kick his arse, either."

I laugh. "Do you want me to go and lecture him?"

"If you have the time later, that would be nice," she agrees.

I do my work in silence for a while. The other girls slowly enter, one by one. All except Dom. I really hope Malfoy hasn't pulled her off to the Room of Requirement to do Merlin-is-the-only-one-who-wants-to-know what.

But no, she bounces up the stairs, with a sultry "Sweet dreams, Scorpius" over her shoulder. I glare at her and she grins in response. "You are glaring at Scorpius' new girlfriend, Rose!"

"No, I'm glaring at Scorpius' new conquest!" I tell her.

She huffs. "Please. I think he knows better than to try that with me."

"Does Malfoy know better than to do anything?" I mutter. Dom quirks an eyebrow at my convoluted sentence. I roll my eyes and collapse into bed.

Maybe when I wake up, they will be back to being politely neutral with each other like this never happened. One can only hope.

**A/N: Thank you all so much for all the follows you gave me on the last chapter! If you follow,though, please do take the time to review as well. It makes me verrrrrrrry happy to see a nice review :)**

**I'll try to update once a week - I have many of the chapters pre-written - but as things get busier in RL I may not be able to keep writing speed up to updating speed. But I'll do my best. :)**

**~Livelaughlove25 xxx**


	4. Love and Hate

_He's so arrogant and bold_

_But she gon' love that shit, I know_

_I done put in a call, time to ring the alarm_

_'Cause you ain't never seen a fire like the one I'ma 'cause_

**Disclaimer: it all belongs to JKR, except the plot. That's all me:)**

I empty the rest of my pumpkin juice over Malfoy's head.

I realize my mornings will feel strangely empty during holidays. All the more reason to enjoy it now!

I grab Lily's pumpkin juice and empty it on him as well.

Malfoy spits juice out of his mouth and glares at me. "I called you a carrot head Weasley, not a pumpkin head."

"I know," I smile sweetly. "You're the pumpkin head."

Then I spin around and sit down before he can respond. Dom runs up, though. "Oh, you poor thing!"

"I'm all right," he tells her, still scowling at me.

"Well, you look especially juicy today," Dom giggles.

Puke!

"Thank your cousin," Malfoy smirks. I scowl heavily as Dom takes his arm and walks off after a warning glance at me.

I viciously stab a piece of bacon, then realize I have no appetite. I push away my plate. Merlin, I have to find some way to break those two up.

**-TTIHM-**

My classes that day pass in a sort of haze. I remember bits and pieces of each. Malfoy and Dom practicing Infatuation charms on each other. (I practiced on Josh Higgins; now I have a date to Hogsmeade this weekend, hurray!) Me accidentally landing a Snargaluff pod between Dom and Malfoy during Herbology. Me destroying Al in Defense, practicing duels. Al now has no eyebrows and an extra nostril, which I really hope Madam Pomfrey is able to fix. Dom in Divination, sighing dreamily over her crystal ball. Me not being able to see anything but fog-like stuff in mine, so I predicted I'd be hopelessly lost in the mists of the future and got an O.

I'm immensely grateful for dinner, roast beef with potatoes. Glad to have something solid in my otherwise slightly nightmarish day. I eat steadily. At least, until Dom and Malfoy plop across from me. Dom greets me with a bright "hi Rosie!" Malfoy raises one eyebrow and one side of his mouth as if it's too much trouble to complete the arrogant smirk, then begins eating.

"Snakes belong over there," I tell Malfoy, pointing my fork first at him, then in the direction of the Slytherin table.

"And weasels belong in dank holes in the ground," he retorts. "Yet you sit here. Astounding, no?" And then he goes back to eating.

Dom, sitting by his side, giggles. I swear if I hear her do that once more, I will pull every one of her lovely silver hairs out of her scalp. Individually.

As if that's not enough, she puts her hand on his arm and stares up at him adoringly. He just looks extremely self-satisfied.

"Do you mind?" I demand through clenched teeth. "Some of us would like to eat."

"Yeah, Weasley, so shut up," Malfoy snaps. I growl and move over to sit beside James, who is also glaring at Malfoy. At least we'll always have our hatred for Malfoy in common, James and I.

**-TTIHM-**

It is utterly impossible to memorize the ingredients in the Draught of Living Death especially when your cousin and your enemy are doing what appears to be wrestling in the armchair across the room. I sit back and sigh, making sure my eyes are trained on the ceiling. James plops into the chair beside me and says something like "mmfff mn," spraying me with crumbs and holding out a half eaten muffin. I wrinkle my nose. "No, thanks."

He swallows with some effort and gestures toward the wrestling match. "Isn't that getting old?"

"No, he was winning a minute ago and now she appears to be," I say acidly. He just frowns at me. I shake my head.

James sits up suddenly. "I know! I could spread a rumour that Malfoy is cheating on her! She will end it for sure."

"James, do you remember when you spread that rumor about me and Malfoy, and I knocked you out?" I ask patiently.

"Oh yeah..." He slumps back down.

I go back to my Potions book. I'm just hoping Dom continues the pattern she kept with all her previous boyfriends: she breaks up with them within a month. I'm also hoping I can last seeing them nauseatingly together a month.

**-TTIHM-**

At 5 minutes before curfew, I pack up my books and walk down to the Entrance Hall, where I start patrolling the halls for the night. It's at this time when I enjoy being a prefect; I get a few hours to just walk and think to myself. Generally we are supposed to patrol with our partners in the rotation, but there is no way I'm spending the night with Malfoy.

The phrase 'spending the night with Malfoy' even sounds wrong!

I have no idea why the teachers enjoy pairing us up for everything possible. Maybe they think it's funny, or maybe they secretly hate us both and want us to rip each other to shreds, or maybe they think we'll actually learn to get along.

Ha! It's more likely that I'd cuddle a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

Malfoy is late. I scowl at my watch and am just about to set off when he shows up. His blond hair is mussed and sticking up in strange places, and his lips are starting to swell. I refuse to even consider what caused that.

"You're two minutes late," I tell him irritatedly.

"Bite me," he mutters, lighting his wand.

"Dom clearly has that covered," I snark, referring to the love bite peeking out of his collar. He scowls down at me and adjusts his robes so it doesn't show.

"Creep," he throws at me.

I snort and roll my eyes. "Please. Even if it wasn't visible to the whole school, you and Dom wrestling on that armchair was seen by the whole of Gryffindor."

With that, I spin on my heel and take off up the stairs, leaving him to cover the dungeon. It's only fair, seeing as he'll end up in one at some point anyway.

**-TTIHM-**

It's nearing the end of my shift, and so far I've only encountered Peeves, who sang rude songs at me for a while and then took off.

I am now on the second floor, heading back down to the Entrance Hall, where Malfoy and I are supposed to meet the prefects who'll relieve us for the rest of the night. I hope the arse isn't late once more.

I lean against the wall for a second, and let my wandlight go out. This lets me hear sounds from a nearby window: the soft whoosh of the wind, the creak of a gargoyle as it stirs, animal cries from the Forbidden Forest, a light giggle from -

Wait a minute. That's not from outside a window.

I listen again and hear low voices. Keeping my wand unlit, I silently follow the sound until I realize I've somehow passed it. I back up a few steps and realize it's coming from across the corridor. Slowly stepping towards it, I keep my hand in front of me to make sure I don't bump into the wall.

My fingers suddenly brush wood, rather than the stone I was expecting, and I realize it's a broom closet. The voices have stopped, too, replaced by disgusting slurping noises, and it's quite clear what's going on in there. I take a few steps back, point my wand at the door, and it bursts open with a bang.

"What the ruddy hell-" Someone lights their wand, and I can't see at first but then my eyes adjust and I can just make out-

"Weasley?" Malfoy says, shocked, at the same time Dom exclaims, "Rose?"

In a sort of detached way, I'm surprised to find myself shaking with anger. "What the ihell/i do you two think you're doing?"

Malfoy just stands there staring at me stupidly with his mouth hanging open like a goldfish. Dom giggles nervously. "Well, obviously, Rose, we-"

Somehow that giggle infuriates me to the point where I hiss at her, "Dominique. Go. Back. To. The. Dorm. You are sodding well breaking curfew, and you'll be really lucky if I don't report you."

Dom looks vaguely shell shocked and turns around to head back in a daze. I watch her leave, again detachedly wondering if I'll need to apologize tomorrow, but not really caring through how angry I am in that moment.

As soon as she rounds the corner out of earshot, Malfoy, who is apparently recovered from his paralysis, spins me around by the shoulder to face him. "What the bloody hell was that, Weasley?!"

"I could ask you the same thing," I retort. "You were supposed to be patrolling the halls! Instead you were sitting in a broom closet, snogging a student you should have been reprimanding for breaking curfew-"

"Oh, save it, Weasley," he snaps. "Not everyone is a prissy little prude like you!"

That one sort of stings. "I'm not a prude!"

"Really? You've never snogged anyone, I bet. Not that anyone would want to snog you."

"For your information, I have a date to Hogsmeade this weekend," I sniff, carefully avoiding the snogging question. Let me set things straight: I could have been snogged if it weren't for my fear of enclosed spaces like broom closets, it's not like I haven't had offers.

"A date. You." Malfoy says, raising one eyebrow.

"Of course," I say somewhat smugly. "And there will be snogging," I add quickly. "Plenty."

He snorts at me. "Oh yes? And who would this date be?"

"You'll have to wait to satisfy your burning curiosity."

"Hardly," he scoffs. We start walking toward the stairs to meet the other prefects in the Entrance Hall. He makes a mocking gesture to indicate that I go first, but I shake my head. I don't trust him enough to walk in front of him.

"I insist, you first," I tell him.

He snorts once more. "As if."

We end up walking three feet apart but precisely side by side.

**Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! MWAH! And Happy Halloween! Don't forget to leave me a treat, even if it is a little late, by reviewing!**

**Toujours,**

**~Livelaughlove25**


	5. Me and My Enemy

_Il m'aime encore _

_Et moi je t'aime un peu plus fort _

_Mais il m'aime encore, _

_Et moi je t'aime un peu plus fort_

**Disclaimer: all canon characters belong to JKR. Song lyrics come from Comme des Enfants by Béatrice Martin.**

_Saturday, Hogsmeade weekend_

I am in some shit, as the Americans say.

It is the morning of the Hogsmeade trip, and I don't have a date - after rubbing it in Malfoy's face that I do. Oops. Guess my tongue got away from me on that one.

I'm lying in bed, trying to figure out how to play this. Should I pretend I'm sick? Maybe with spattergroit, which is contagious, so of course I wouldn't want my "date" to catch it. On second thought, the quarantine for that is months long, and not even the amount of embarrassment THIS promises to be can offset that. I am not prepared to be in solitary confinement for the better part of my sixth year, especially because of Malfoy.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP!" I hear Aunt Fleur's voice, screeching from somewhere near Dom's bed. Her stupid alarm clock. I throw a pillow in the general direction of the sound and am rewarded with a groggy "mmf, dix minutes plus Maman!"

I sigh and pull myself out of bed to go to the bathroom. If I'm going to get embarrassed beyond belief today, I may as well look decent while it happens.

**-TTIHM-**

I walk down the stairs with my head held high. I'm not going to show any sign of weakness. I watched a nature show once, on muggle television, about wolves. They apparently eat the weakest in the pack. Hogwarts isn't much different, especially when there are Slytherins involved.

Josh Higgins catches me at the bottom of the stairs. "You look so pretty, Rose!"

"Er, thanks," I respond a little confused.

"Ready for our date?" he winks.

"Huh?" I brilliantly reply.

He starts to look uncomfortable. "Remember, on Thursday, right after Charms, you agreed to go to Hogsmeade with me-"

"Oh, of course!" I gush, relief overcoming me. I'm not going to get embarrassed after all! Of course, I did put an Infatuation Charm on the boy, but that's all collateral damage. "How could I forget? I heard you wrong. I thought you asked if I was ready for our...plate, and I was wondering what you meant, because why would one need to prepare to meet a plate? You just eat food off them."

Oh, Merlin. Shut up, Rose. Shut up now.

"Oh," he frowns slightly, but then accepts it. "Alright. Can I sit with you for breakfast?"

"I would love that," I beam, and because I'm still so relieved, and because he really does look cute, with his brown hair falling into his eyes, and his shy smile, I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

We go and sit at the Gryffindor table together. James, on a bet from Fred, is taking two girls to Hogsmeade without each one finding out that he's also taking the other. He's sitting with one of the girls now. The other one is probably upstairs primping with the rest of James' harem.

Josh nudges me. "Hey, is your brother okay?"

I follow his gaze to see Hugo sitting on a bench cross legged, with his eyes closed and his hands held up beside his head. His thumb and forefinger on each hand are pressed together, and the other fingers are sticking straight up. I roll my eyes, march over and flick him on the ear.

He slowly opens his eyes. "Greetings, sister mine."

"Hello, Hugo," I say. "Shouldn't you be doing this in your dorm or something?"

"Please, do not call me Hugo," he intones like some monk. "I have reached enlightenment. You may now refer to me as the Rama Rama."

"How exactly have you reached enlightenment?" I inquire sarcastically.

"I sat under the Whomping Willow, and it recognized my higher state of mind by not attacking," he tells me.

I raise an eyebrow.

He sighs. "The boddhisattva got enlightened by sitting under a boddhi tree under a storm. Desires came to him but they did not affect him, and neither did the elements. Since we don't have boddhi trees here, I had to make do. And now I do not desire anything anymore."

Deciding I don't want to deal with him today, I just nod and turn to head over to Josh. But Hugo calls me back. "Wait! Rose! I'm leading yoga classes in the Room of Requirement Monday evenings. Want to come? Only two Sickles a class!"

I frown. "What about the whole not desiring anything? Isn't money, I dunno, filthy tainted lucre or something?"

"I'm a teenage boy, not a saint," he says as if I should have known.

"Whatever Hugo," I roll my eyes and walk away.

"It's Rama Rama, not Hugo!" he calls after me.

By the time I get back, Josh is laughing at some of James' antics. He sent the first girl off on some pointless errand and is now talking to the second one. Albus is sitting with us today, acting as James' lookout and covering for him. They've agreed to split the money when they win (they haven't considered the possibility that they might not, and don't even care that Fred is extorting money from both of them, so if he wins he actually gets quadruple the money they would each get. Simple arithmetic).

The first girl walks in. Al immediately jumps up and goes to talk to her, conveniently blocking James from her view. She frowns at something he says, but then smiles and walks back upstairs. Al returns to our table, smirking.

"She thinks you've gone upstairs to look for her," Al whispers to James.

"What?" asks Date #2.

"Nothing," they immediately say together.

Malfoy enters the Hall with Dom on his arm. Looks like she finally got up. I'm hoping against hope that they'll go sit at the Slytherin table, but no, they come here. Malfoy's eyebrows raise at seeing me with Josh.

James scowls at Malfoy, and Date #2 has to smack him on the arm to get his attention. James suddenly remembers he "forgot his wand upstairs", which is bollocks, but the girl doesn't stop him. I'd bet all the Sickles Hugo is going to make from his yoga class (two, maybe four if he's lucky) he's going to meet Date #1.

Josh pours me some juice and snags a piece of toast for me from a plate before Fred grabs it. Just because I know Malfoy is watching, I smile sweetly and kiss his cheek once more. Josh blushes, and Malfoy's eyebrows travel further up his forehead.

Josh puts his arm around me and glares at Malfoy, whose eyebrows are going to disappear into his hair in a few seconds. Dom smacks him, murmurs "be polite" and shoves a waffle into his mouth.

James returns. Date #1 is nowhere to be found. I think the second girl (who seems marginally smarter) is beginning to get suspicious but she says nothing.

Malfoy finally swallows the waffle and addresses Josh and me. "So, uh, you two..."

"Yeah, us two," I say and grin smugly.

I have a feeling that by the end of the day, Malfoy will have raised his eyebrows so much that they'll actually be on the other side of his head.

When we leave, just because I don't want to break tradition, and also because I can't resist, I pour a pitcher of maple syrup over Malfoy.

**-TTIHM-**

Josh and I wander up and down the narrow streets of Hogsmeade. He is very sweet, occasionally holding my hand or putting his arm around me, or holding doors open for me when necessary. After visiting Honeydukes, we head to the Three Broomsticks and sit at a table in the back that's meant for more than two people, but is partially hidden by a protruding wall.

Josh gets two Butterbeers, and we drink them, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. It's like being with a friend. Eventually the subject of Charms class comes up, and I cringe internally, doing my best to steer the conversation away.

"So, those Infatuation Charms," Josh says to me, a twinkle in his eye.

I gulp. "Erm, yeah. Say, have you noticed that Butterbeer is a lovely golden colour?"

"I know you tried to cast an Infatuation Charm on me, Rosie," he says, smiling.

"You do?" I gasp, and then frown in confusion. "Wait, what do you mean, tried? It obviously worked."

"No it didn't," he grins.

I narrow my eyes. "Are you insulting my spell-casting?"

"Oh, no, no!" he exclaims. "I only meant... well, I could tell you had tried, and that it didn't work, because I already liked you."

I blink. "Really?"

"Really," he smiles, and leans in to kiss me. My eyes flutter closed, and our lips our just about to touch when a loud and obnoxious "Afternoon!" intrudes on the moment. We jump back as if we've been hit with a Repulsing jinx, and look up.

Malfoy, sans Dom, is standing over our table, grinning at having ruined my moment. He's obviously managed to clean up his hair and it's in little spikes as usual. To make matters worse, he slides onto the bench beside me.

"Shouldn't you be off in some cobwebby closet, snogging my cousin?" I growl.

"Yes," he sighs. "But alas, she wanted to go shopping for clothes! So I left."

Even in the middle of my annoyance I can't helping rolling my eyes at Dom's absurd need to buy something within a 5 mile radius of buy-able things.

"Don't let me interrupt you two getting cozy," Malfoy smirks. "Go right on ahead."

"Why don't you piss off, Malfoy?" Josh appears very ticked off.

"I like it here," he says arrogantly. "Very... friendly."

Both me and my date bristle at the implication, and I can't resist calling him out. "Not quite as 'friendly' as you and Dom were two nights ago."

"Oh, and we still are," he chuckles. "If anything, I'd stay with your cousin just because it annoys you."

I huff in annoyance and stomp off to the bathroom. When I've calmed down enough to come out, I nearly bump into James' second date, who is standing just outside the men's room, staring avidly at the door as if she expects it to dance a jig. I look at her oddly. "Er, you know that's for the boys right?"

"Yes, I do," she replies. "But James went in here half an hour ago, and I'm waiting for him to come out. I'm not buying that story about a really bad stomach."

I decide to mess things up for my cousin just a little. He deserves it, treating girls this way. "You're right. He's probably climbed out the window by now, off to see the other girl he's brought here today."

"I knew it!" she exclaims. "Merlin, is he going to get it from me. Thanks for telling me, Rose."

"Anytime, er..." I can't remember her name.

"Ella," she chuckles. "Want to help me put itching powder in his sheets sometime?"

"I'd love it," I laugh.

I walk back to the table but pause behind the bit of protruding wall, hearing angry voices.

"I'm telling you," comes Josh's voice, "stay away."

Malfoy sighs. "And _I'm _telling _you, _I'm not interested in Weasley."

"Please," scoffs Josh.

I can almost see Malfoy raising his eyebrows. "Please, what? I'm with her cousin, as you know. I am not interested in her."

"Sure," remarks Josh. "Then why are you always trying to get her attention?"

"If by get her attention, you mean annoy her, then it is because it's funny. You should try it sometime, loosen up a little, Mr. Merlin's-Gift-to-Witches, instead of acting like some uptight medieval knight rushing off to rescue a damsel in distress."

"I'm nice," says Josh coldly. "Not uptight. And explain this: if you aren't trying to get Rose's attention, then why are you here?"

"Were you not listening?" Malfoy demands. "I enjoy irritating her, and she is obviously quite irritated."

There is a pause, and then Malfoy speaks again. "Why are you so worried?"

Josh sounds ages older when he talks. "Because there is a very fine line between love and hate."

Malfoy snorts. "Yeah, that's what some people have told me. But if that were true, you and I would be all over each other right now."

Josh chuckles quietly. "True."

I choose this moment to make my grand entrance, walking nonchalantly around the wall as if I haven't heard everything they've said in the past five minutes. This time though, I slide in beside Josh.

At this timely moment, Dom shows up. "Oh, look at you all, getting along like old friends!"

"Old friends, that's what we are," Malfoy smirks, again referring to me and Josh. I kick him under the table.

Dom starts taking out the new clothes she's bought and telling us all about them. Don't get me wrong, I love clothes and shopping as much as the next sixteen-year-old witch, but Dom worships them. I wouldn't be surprised to find her cross legged in front of her open closet, meditating like Hugo does in front of the sun.

Dom continues talking. I study my nails. Oh, there's a little chip on the corner, I must remember to fix that. I think I'll cut them in two days, they should be pretty long by then. I notice Josh repeatedly stirring his Butterbeer. There's a miniature whirlpool in the middle, and I remember something about how all whirlpools in the Northern Hemisphere turn counterclockwise and those in the Southern Hemisphere turn clockwise. I think it's called the Coriolis effect? One of the many random and useless things I learned in muggle elementary. Malfoy has whipped out a book and is reading. I can't see the title. I'm surprised Dom doesn't notice us engaged in our various little pastimes - I'm actually twiddling my thumbs by this point. I thought no one ever really did that.

"...and it all cost only 137 Galleons and 3 Sickles," Dom beams.

"That's excellent," I say, because that's generally what I say at this point in our conversations.

"Thank you!" she exclaims. "I was actually so tempted to buy the matching shoes and bag as well, but they..." And she goes off on a streak about what she used her tremendous self control to refrain from buying.

My cuticles are awfully out of shape. I should really see to those when I have time.

**-TTIHM-**

Filch sweeps the Probity Probe down me one last time, then declares me clear, glaring at me balefully as if I had just denied him the great pleasure of confiscating something. But James is behind me, so he'll get his happiness yet.

Merlin, the geezer needs to get out more. Can't be healthy to have only a cat for company, though Mum apparently managed that in third year. Guess that explains why she turned out the way she did.

Josh walks me back to my dorm. I need to change and wash for dinner. Malfoy thought it would be really funny to see how my hair looked soaked in Butterbeer.

I'm just about to go up the last staircase into the Gryffindor common room when Josh suddenly pulls me aside, into an empty hallway.

"Wait," he says. "We were interrupted."

And he leans in really slowly. Both his breathing and mine speed up. I've heard about how your first kiss is supposed to be, with the fireworks and unicorns and rainbows and butterflies, and I'm anticipating the feeling.

He presses his mouth to mine, lingers for a few seconds, pulls back, and smiles at me.

Me? I'm still waiting for the fireworks.

**-TTIHM-**

I'm beside Lily at dinner, stabbing into the roast rather vindictively. Josh is over at the Hufflepuff table casting me longing, sad looks, because I sat quickly in between Lily and Hugo, with James across from me, and there was no room for him nearby. I'm not in the mood for sappiness. I didn't even get to see a bloody butterfly and I'm sodding well pissed off.

"How was your date?" Lily asks me.

I mutter something about there being no damn unicorns and she looks at me strangely.

James is sporting a black eye from when Ella punched him. I think I like that girl.

Hugo has a cute little girl wearing yoga pants and one of those stretchy headbands beside him. He's describing the inverted tree pose (on your head, back straight, legs bent at right angles at the knee, calves crossed) to her, and she's gazing at him like he's the best thing since spandex. The yoga obsession may have paid off (not like the cheesy muggle musical one. _Rent_ is a lot longer than you'd think, especially when the person singing it actually sings for three hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes).

Lily taps me on the shoulder. "So, tell me about these missing unicorns."

"I don't know what they're like," I mumble. "I didn't see them. They were off for a bloody jaunt around Kazakhstan instead of prancing about at my moment like they were supposed to."

Lily raises an eyebrow. "I know less now than I did before."

"Even the sodding rainbows deserted me!" I wail.

"Are you high?" asks James suddenly.

I frown at him. "No. Why the ruddy hell would you think that?"

"You're going on about rainbows and unicorns in some place I think you just made up," he told me as if this was perfectly reasonable.

"As if it's any less ridiculous than some of the rubbish you talk about," I grumble.

"Wow, who spit in your lunch?" wonders Lily.

"Let's turn that frown upside down!" says James perkily, imitating some woman in a muggle advert. I narrow my eyes and glare at him dangerously. He backtracks hurriedly. "I mean, if you want to. Whatever you feel like."

"I felt like seeing fireworks a while ago," I complain. "But the fireworks didn't care what I felt like!"

"I think she's finally lost it," Lily says to James at normal volume, as if I'm not sitting right there.

"Bound to happen sometime," James agrees.

"I can HEAR you," I grouch.

"We know," they chorus.

Dom and Malfoy walk in then, all disheveled as usual. This bothers me.

"They see the butterflies and I don't!" I whine.

Malfoy raises an eyebrow.

"The fire's lit, but the cauldron's empty," Lily explains.

They nod like this is old news. I'm starting to wonder if they're all mentally disabled.

**-TTIHM-**

I couldn't stand being in the common room with all those happy couples. Plus I know Josh would be looking for me, and I don't want to have to kiss him just now. The absence of the fireworks and unicorns and rainbows and butterflies had left me strangely empty.

I was wandering the halls for a bit, but I was already tired from all the walking I had done in Hogsmeade today, so now I'm sitting on the cold stone floor against the wall because there's nowhere better nearby. I'm wondering how other people carry on physical relationships. Do they grin and pretend like there's actually something there? Or do they actually feel it and there's just something wrong with me?

I close my eyes and lean my head back against the wall. After a while I hear someone slide down to sit beside me, and that someone who apparently has a deep voice clears their throat. I open my eyes and turn my head to see Malfoy. I don't have the energy left to be surprised or even scowl at him so I just close my eyes once more.

"That's different," he says quietly.

"What?" I mumble.

"Not even a hostile expression."

"I'm too_ tired_," I say.

He ignores the implied request for him to leave and just continues talking.

"I have to say, I'm surprised."

"Why?" I ask.

"Josh Higgins?" he says somewhat sarcastically.

"You don't think I could attract someone like him?" I demand, but it's halfhearted, and he can tell.

"I didn't think you'd go for him," he says.

"Why not?" I ask, because I'm genuinely curious now.

"I thought you'd go for someone with more personality. Someone a little less average," he frowns.

"He's got personality," I defend him, again halfheartedly, and avoiding the average part, because honestly I don't know about that yet. His kissing, at least, is average at best. Again, Malfoy notices, and smirks.

"So then why go out with him? Just to prove your point?" He elbows me, but it's light, and there's no venom behind it.

"Because I..." I begin, and then realize as if for the first time who I'm talking to. "It's none of your bloody business, and why does it matter to you?"

Annnnnnd we're back!

"You're fascinating," he smirks. "Like the old test subjects in the Experimental Charms department."

"And you're an arse," I retort. "Like the ones that rest on toilets."

"Oh, don't call me that," he says.

I raise one shoulder in a half shrug. "If the shoe fits..."

He chuckles, but lets it drop, and doesn't make some sarcastic remark like I'm expecting. We sit there silently for a while, me and my enemy. Oil and water, fire and ice. And it's almost peaceful.

Atleast, until Mrs. Norris the Third walks by and stares at us - I swear you can hear her saying "Naughty naughty" - and turns pad back the way she came. We both swear and jump up, looking for somewhere to hide. Sprinting as silently as we can across the corridors and looking for a place to hide, we hear Filch hobbling along behind us, but luckily we're fast enough that he's always a corner behind us and can't see us.

One of those wonderful broom closets turns up. Merlin, I hate them. But it's that or detention. Malfoy grabs my arm and pulls me into it, shutting the door quietly. The closet is tiny, dark and cramped, especially because Malfoy's too tall and has to hunch over me. The only things keeping me from bursting out of this closet are the threat of having to relieve Filch of his job of cleaning toilets and the pain of Malfoy's hand, still tightly gripping my arm. It helps me focus.

We hear Filch hobbling around outside, his cane going tap tap. Suddenly, inexplicably, I start to giggle. Malfoy digs his fingers deeper into my arm, but I keep laughing, although almost silently, I can't seem to stop. I can almost hear Malfoy roll his eyes. Filch's tap-tapping has paused, but I haven't. With some difficulty Malfoy extricates his arm from behind him and puts his hand over my mouth. I'm still giggling, but the slight sound is muffled by his hand. Filch resumes walking and his footsteps gradually fade. Malfoy pushes open the door of the broom closet and lets me out, and I finally cease to laugh. He steps out as well.

"What the hell?" he whispers, though I can tell, if he could, he'd be shouting.

"I don't know," I admit.

He rolls his eyes and sighs. "Come on, I'll walk you to your common room."

I stare at him in utter shock.

"What?" he demands. "I can be nice!"

"Not to me," I murmur.

"I poured Butterbeer on you and embarrassed you in front of your boyfriend, and you poured maple syrup on me and nearly got me in detention with your stupid laughter. I think we've exchanged blows enough today," he says. "I don't have all night, let's get walking!"

I relent and we walk toward the Gryffindor common room, keeping an eye out for Mrs. Norris or Filch.

When we reach I give the Fat Lady the password. "Insomnia."

"I'll say," she grumbles irritably from under her nightcap as the door swings open. I climb through.

"Weasley," Malfoy says before I can close the door. I turn back, and he's got his smirk on again.

"What?"

"Don't think this changes anything," he tells me. "I still hate you."

I smile sweetly. "As I loathe you, Malfoy."

I let the portrait door swing shut, but not before a whispered "Good night" gets through. I trudge up the stairs and undress as quietly as I can so as not to wake my dorm mates up.

As I'm lying in bed, it hits me why I was giggling.

The first time I'd been in a broom closet was in first year, on a pranking mission with James. I was in there with him for about ten seconds before I had to get out. That means that the first boy I'm not related to that I've spent over five minutes with in a broom closet in is Malfoy.

Funny how things happen sometimes.

**Sooooo, this is an extra long update! Please give it extra love! This may just be my favorite chapter so far. Oh, by the way, the lyrics at the top are in French, and they mean "He loves me too/ again, but I love you a little more." I love all kinds of random music, so don't be weirded out by that. All music I use is stuff I actually listen to, and that I am sort of recommending. **

**Please Review! Also if you have a preference for a character or a direction for the story, or a criticism, I'd love to know!**

**Merci beaucoup,**

**~Livelaughlove25**


	6. My Imagination or The Ferret

_Nobody said it was easy_

_It's such a shame for us to part_

_Nobody said it was easy_

_No one ever said it would be this hard_

_- The Scientist by Coldplay_

**Disclaimer: last time I checked, I was not past 50, did not live in England, and my passport doesn't say JK Rowling. So, no, I do not own any of these characters. And lyrics are from the Scientist by Coldplay**

"So, where were you last night?" Dom asks me from her spot beside Malfoy, across the breakfast table. "I fell asleep before you came back, but you were there this morning."

Malfoy's eyes flash to me and then away. I can't help the laugh I have to suppress because if the brood knew, they'd jump to conclusions and have simultaneous aneurysms.

"I was, er, wandering the halls," I shrug. "You know, needed some thinking time."

"Oh, really?" Dom leans towards me, her eyes narrowed. "All by yourself?"

Malfoy's eyes widen. I try to ask him (without talking) if he told her, and he shakes his head no slightly.

"Who would I be with?" I ask in an unnaturally high voice, with an unnaturally high laugh at the end.

"A BOY," Dom says in a somewhat dangerous tone.

_Shit. She knows_. "Look, Dom, nothing happened, we only were in the broom closet together because Filch was nearby-"

"Don't be silly Rose," Dom giggles. "Of course you went and kissed Josh! He IS your boyfriend after all."

I exhale heavily in relief. "Yeah, me and Josh."

"I think he's one of the most handsome boys at Hogwarts," she says contemplatively.

Malfoy clears his throat and she giggles again. "Except for you, _mon cheri_."

Josh walks up then, looking slightly awkward. Can't blame him, I did blow him off last night. "Er, hi, Rose."

I feel so sorry about the way I treated him. So I give him a bright smile. "Morning! Sit with us!"

He looks relieved and settles in beside me. I decide it may have been me last night, what with the lack of unicorns and all. Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. After all, he's handsome and nice; what more could a girl want?

I see Hugo down the table (I absolutely refuse to call him Rama Rama, whatever the bloody hell a Rama Rama is). He's got that girl beside him again, the one who was in the yoga pants last night, only now she's in leggings. Hugo has his hands folded and is gesturing towards the ceiling with them. I'm glad he's found someone who shares his interests and he won't necessarily have to develop a cat obsession. Plus, if that fails, he's gotten pretty flexible: he could go into gymnastics.

A vaguely familiar girl walks past. I realize it's Ella, the one James two-timed yesterday. Her nose is in the air and James is following after her trying to explain about the previous day while scratching frantically at his armpits. She winks at me as she passes.

You know, I think I like her. I may have a new prank buddy.

James manages to seize her elbow, but she pulls it away. "Get your hands off me, you prick!"

"I'm not a prick!" he protests.

"Of course not! It's completely understandable why you crawled out of a bathroom window to go see the other girl you took on a date at the same time as me!"

"Wow, you're really understanding," James says incredulously, then frowns. "Wait, that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

She just huffs and walks off.

"A little slow on the uptake, aren't we?" drawls Fred. "Where's my money?"

James just glares at him and then stalks off after Ella.

"Does this sort of thing happen in your family every day?" Josh asks me.

"Not every day..." I say. "Maybe, two out of three?"

He laughs, thinking I'm joking. Little does he know I'm being perfectly serious. Malfoy is smirking at something across the table, I'm not sure what. Then he gestures towards me and then Josh, so only I can notice, and makes a little kissy face with his lips all puckered up.

Not sure why, but this makes me unbelievably annoyed. I gesture between him and Dom, again so no one notices, and make a kissy face at him. He shrugs and nods, as if to admit it. I growl in frustration, stamp on his foot under the table, gather up my things and stomp off to Potions, though I know I'll be early. As I exit the hall, I hear Malfoy telling Dom I must be mentally unbalanced and Josh defending me.

I'm going insane. Most other girls would kill to have someone defending them so willingly! They'd love to have some boy so protective of them. But it makes me claustrophobic. I'm not sure why that is. I think I really enjoy fighting my own battles, and, well, he's doing it for me. I don't know what I'm going to do.

I slouch against the dungeon wall until Al shows up, also early.

"Can I have 5 Galleons?" he asks by way of greeting.

I frown at him. "Nice to meet you too. How are you? I've been great, thanks for asking."

"How do you do, and all that," he waves it off. "Look, Fred is getting pretty insistent about the bet. Says if I don't pay up in a week he will tell Dad it was me who stole the Firewhiskey."

"Just what were you doing with Firewhiskey?" I demand. Al flushes.

"Oh, bollocks," he groans. "Forgot you didn't know. Well, never mind, then."

Malfoy walks down the stairs, sans Dom. Surprising, because she has this class with us. His hair is mussed again, and he has her make up smeared on his face. Al just groans, because it's very strange for him to have his best friend snogging his cousin.

"What?" he asks Al.

Al groans again.

"I don't think red is your colour, lipstick wise," I offer. His eyes go wide, and he curses before running back upstairs.

Students start filtering in. Dom breezes in with the last few. She catches sight of me and comes over. "Hey Rose, where's Scorp?"

"Wiping his lipstick off," I tell her cheerfully. Al moans again and she looks worried.

Malfoy runs into class three minutes late. Slughorn lets it go, though, mostly because Draco sends him pineapple or something to keep Malfoy out of trouble. He settles on the other side of Dom.

"Where were you?" she whispers.

"Wiping your damn lipstick off," he hisses.

Dom shrugs unapologetically. "It was the long lasting kind."

Malfoy rolls his eyes.

**-TTIHM-**

I'm walking down by the lake, having finally got through all my classes. It's oddly peaceful out here. One tentacle raises out of the water as if the squid is waving at me and I toss a biscuit out for him. The air smells fresh, like the recent storm cleaned it off.

I need to decide what to do about the Josh thing, and fast. I can't leave him hanging on and not pay attention to him. Then again, I don't want to break up with him because he's not done anything wrong, per say.

Suddenly, something heavy hits my side and I tumble over, luckily falling on the soft grass that lines the banks of the lake. Josh is on top of me, laughing. "Got you!"

"Yeah, you most certainly did," I wheeze out, because he's crushing me. He notices.

"Oh. Sorry." He rolls off, and sits beside me. I sit up, too, and attempt to sort out the tangled mess that is my hair.

"Oh, don't worry about that," he grins, catching my hands and pulling them around his neck, before leaning down and kissing me once more.

Nothing. Not a bloody flicker.

Then I remember I'm supposed to be trying, so I kiss him back, getting into it as much as I can.

At first there's nothing. But gradually, after about twenty seconds, I feel something.

It may have just been his house badge digging into my chest. But still.

After a while I pull away to check the time, and gasp. "Oh, bloody hell! It's almost time for supper!"

"We should get back," he agrees.

We get up and start walking back toward the castle. He puts his arm around me as we walk, and I don't object. I'm starting to feel cold.

I hear a twig snap behind us and quickly twist around. I think I see a flash of white-gold in a copse of trees nearby, but it disappears before I can be sure.

"What?" Josh asks, turning his head as well.

I dismiss it. I must be seeing things. "Nothing."

We pick up the pace and run back to the castle.

**-TTIHM-**

Josh is sitting with us at dinner again. Dom is across from me as usual, but the ferret that's normally stuck to her side like a leech is missing, and from how she keeps worriedly looking over her shoulder, I don't think she knows where he is. Odd.

Josh is listening, wide eyed, to James about some of the riskier pranks he's pulled - painting Mrs. Norris the Third blue, draping the Slytherin common room with Gryffindor banners, dying my Mum's hair red ("Now you really look like a Weasley!") - and I feel sure he thinks my family must be mad. Oh, maybe he'll break up with me because of them!

No! Bad Rose! Stop thinking like that!

Forgot I'm supposed to be trying. It doesn't feel like I always thought a relationship would feel. This feels like _work_.

Just then, I notice Malfoy walk in. My breath catches at his expression. He looks absolutely livid, furious beyond belief. His eyes have darkened, his fists are clenched, and I think if I go closer I might even see a vein popping. What could possibly make him this angry? He doesn't even look like this when I call his parents Death Eaters.

He looks over and catches sight of me gaping. Immediately he gives me the trademark scowl we reserve for each other, and I automatically send it back. He seems to be edging over to Slytherin table...hmmmm. Is it possible that he and Dom are seeing trouble already?

Oh, hallelujah! I won't have to endure cheesy romanticness at mealtimes anymore!

But no, Dom knows there is only one person I scowl at like that, and she turns. "Scorpy!"

Scorpy?! What the bloody hell? What kind of a stupid nickname is _Scorpy?_ I muffle my snicker behind my napkin, then hurriedly disguise it as a cough when Dom looks over skeptically.

_Scorpy_ glances at our table and there's a brief flash of irritation on his face before he reluctantly walks over.

"Didn't you see me here?" Dom asks, batting her lashes. He just grunts and grabs a turkey leg, kicking me under the table by way of greeting and ignoring Josh completely.

Dom looks affronted. She isn't used to being ignored. She pouts, hoping he'll look and comfort her, but he just tears at the turkey leg as if it personally offended him.

Dom tries again. "So what were you doing all afternoon?"

I can't resist adding, "Yes, Scorpy, do tell."

He shoots me a glare before looking back at his plate.

"Quidditch," he says, as if to no one in particular, then goes back to the turkey leg. He's already finished half of it, and it was huge.

Hmm. That's strange. I thought Ravenclaw had the pitch today. Guess I was wrong, it's not like I pay much attention to the schedule anyway, unless James has booked us a practice and is on my arse about it.

Dom is now ignoring Malfoy right back. In fact, she's leaning across the table to flirt with Josh, and he seems sort of stunned. It doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. I just focus on my own turkey. I'm bored.

Something hits my leg under the table. My first thought is Malfoy, but he's still attacking the last quarter of his turkey leg. I brush it off - I really am imagining things today, the twig and the flash of gold, the Quidditch schedule and now this. At least, until something hits my leg again. I aim a kick back in the general direction of it and hit Malfoy who kicks back. So it was him.

I quickly snag a devilled egg so that no one sees. I crush it in my palm and wait for the right moment. When Malfoy's foot swings toward me again, I grab hold of it and stuff the egg into his sock. He pulls his foot back and checks it discreetly, then looks up with such a disgusted expression that I just have to laugh.

Dom and Josh turn to look at me and I pretend to be having a coughing fit again. Josh tries to be helpful by thumping me on the back, but that sends me into a real coughing fit. When I finally recover and my eyes stop watering, Malfoy is still laughing at my fake-turned-real cough. Stupid prick.

**-TTIHM-**

Dom invited Josh back to our common room instead of me inviting him, like I was probably supposed to. I'm not sure why Malfoy is here, though. He sitting in an armchair in a corner looking utterly bored. Unfortunately, the only available seat is across from him, and I have to do my homework. I sigh and trudge over.

"Missed me already, Weasley?" he smirks with a gleam in his eye.

"Over our snit, are we?" I ask, referring to his earlier mood.

"Yes, the reason for it is currently not applicable," he says obscurely. I have no idea what he's talking about, so I just start with the homework.

I have half a parchment page on the properties of bezoars when he interrupts. "That's wrong."

I squint at him. "What?"

"Bezoars don't have healing properties."

I sit back, exasperated. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for that, ferret?"

"You didn't let me finish," he says, wagging a finger at me like a reprimanding teacher. "I was going to say they have detoxifying properties, not healing properties."

Well, jinx me and call me a Flobberworm. He's right!

"Oh," I say brilliantly. After a second I think to add, "Erm...thanks." It comes out rusty and reluctant, like an old spare key that's never been used. But I suppose it still fits.

He just nods smugly as if thanks was expected and stares across the room at Josh and Dom. Dom is all over Josh, but it would be hard to miss the looks she furtively throws over at Malfoy. Josh, on the other hand, is completely dazed by Dom's Veela-ness. I suppose I should be jealous, but I really couldn't care less.

Malfoy misinterprets my look. "She'll stop being all over him as soon as I go back to being all over her."

It takes me a while to figure out what he means. I respond a second late, trying to make it sound like I mean it. "She better."

He looks at me curiously, not with the usual scowl or smirk. Again I'm reminded of the rusty spare key. "It doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"Of course it does!" I exclaim, trying to project indignance.

"I thought not." The smirk is back.

I throw down my quill and glare at him in exasperation. "Were you not listening? I said it does!"

"But you didn't mean it," he shrugs.

How could he tell?! I straighten my face quickly. "I did. And sod off. It's none of your bloody business!"

Something unidentifiable shows on his face for the briefest of moments before his smirk returns. "Have it your way, Weasley. But it is about to become my business very soon."

"What the hell?"

He leans across the table in between us to whisper, "He's coming over here."

I look, and sure enough, Josh is on his way over, glaring at Malfoy. I turn quickly back to Malfoy and hiss, "Leave!"

"No, this chair is comfortable," he smirks. I growl at him.

Josh reaches and pulls me up for a long kiss. My eyes are open, though his are closed, and I can see Malfoy staring as if he can't believe his eyes. Rose Weasley is being snogged! Take that, ferret! I lean up on my tip toes for effect. Again, I think I feel something, this time on the back of my neck. It may have just been his Father's college ring but still.

I finally pull away and Josh grins. He's probably thinking, _Finally._ All I can think is, _Hope you enjoyed that, Malfoy_. And I can see, in the periphery of my vision, he's still staring.

Josh pushes my hair back. "I have to go," he says in a low voice. "It's almost past curfew."

"Night," I say before he ducks out the portrait hole.

I smile to myself as if lost in the moment, but I'm fully aware Malfoy is still watching me. I sigh dreamily for his benefit, and can't help but smile as I hear him gag.

I settle back down in the armchair I just vacated and grin cheekily at him. "Enjoyed the show, you voyeur?"

"Please," he waves it off. "When are you breaking up with Prince Charming?"

"Never," I squeal like a pubescent girl. "We're going to get married!"

He rolls his eyes and pulls himself up from the chair smoothly. "I give it a month, Weasley," he says and winks down at me before disappearing through the portrait hole.

I can't help but wonder when he got so perceptive. I flush a little, as Dom drops into Malfoy's vacated seat and glares suspiciously at me.

"Hi," I greet her.

"Why are you trying to steal my boyfriend?" she asks balefully.

My eyes pop wide. "I'm not! Why would you think that? You know the dynamic between us."

"You looked very cozy in this corner," she observes.

"Please. If anything, you and Josh looked like a couple up in front of the fire," I tell her.

"Oh, that's what this is about!" she says suddenly and smiles at me. This is a complete reversal of her previous mood and I think I have whiplash. "Er, what?"

"You were angry that I was flirting with Josh, so you tried to get revenge," she smiles knowingly.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," I say weakly.

"Well, don't worry," she pats my knee. "I understand. I only wanted Scorp to pay me attention so I flirted with Josh because Scorpius always seems jealous of Josh."

I nod, because really, what else can I do?

After a bit Dom suggests we head upstairs and I agree. My thoughts are in a whirl from her snap assessment of my motivations (which did not exist) for something I did (because I didn't do it).

I lie in bed for awhile. I can't get to sleep. All I can think of is Malfoy guessing the truth about how I feel about Josh, and his prediction of a month. I can't help wondering: is he right?

** A/N: Hello lovelies! This is a very special chapter to me - coming up next is an outtake, this chapter again but from Scorpius' POV! So is the wonderful Scorpius Malfoy correct? A month? More? Less? Guess in a review and I'll send you a sneak peek of the chapter after the outtake if you're right!**

**~Livelaughlove2597**


	7. Outtake 1: My Imagination or The Ferret

_Whenever you kiss him _

_I'm breakin' _

_Oh, how I wish _

_That was me _

_~I Wish - OneDirection_

**Disclaimer: I don't want to infringe, contravene, or transgress. Because we all know anyone who does that to Joanne Rowling is fated to die a horrible death.**

* * *

"So where were you last night?" Dominique asks Weasley at breakfast, across the table. "I fell asleep before you came back, but you were there this morning."

Does she suspect? Would she be angry if she knew Weasley and I were in a broom closet? It's not like we were doing anything (or even had the intention of doing anything, Merlin forbid). After all, we were only in there because of Filch.

"I was, er, wandering the halls," Weasley answers. "You know, needed some thinking time."

"Oh, really?" Dom leans towards Weasley, her eyes narrowed. "All by yourself?"

_Ah shit shit shit!_

Weasley looks meaningfully at me. I shake my head slightly - I sure as hell didn't tell her.

"Who would I be with?" she asks somewhat hysterically, with a nervous laugh at the end. Her voice has gone all high and squeaky like Flitwick's.

"A BOY," Dom says, eyes narrowed.

How did she find out?! Was she following? Did she send someone to spy? Well then she also knows we most likely weren't doing anything...

I need to start talking my way out of this. Luckily I'm persuasive enough that it nearly always works. But no, Weasley goes and panics.

"Look, Dom, nothing happened, we only were in the broom closet together because Filch was nearby-"

"Don't be silly Rose," Dom giggles. "Of course you went and kissed Josh! He IS your boyfriend after all."

Oh. Oh, thank Merlin. She thinks Weasley was with that drip. I close my eyes in relief briefly. Dominique's slight werewolf tendencies can make her quite vicious.

"Yeah, me and Josh," Weasley sighs with relief.

"I think he's one of the handsomest boys at Hogwarts," Dom muses. I clear my throat because I know Dom's reaction will annoy Weasley.

Sure enough, Dom delivers with her mildly irritating giggle. "Except for you, imon cheri/i."

Weasley grinds her teeth together. I smirk inwardly - it's fun seeing her annoyed.

Just then, Higgins walks up, looking awkward. "Er, hi, Rose."

_Hello and goodbye, pansy._

"Morning!" Weasley smiles at him. "Come sit with us!"

_Fuck, no, please don't!_

But of course, he slides onto the bench beside Weasley.

Weasley's cousin Potter walks by, trying to appease some girl he two-timed. Now I'm a Slytherin, which by definition makes me a selfish bastard, but even I could tell him it wasn't smart to have done that.

As a sidenote: I refer to most of the Weasley-Potter family by their first names. I only refer to the ones I antagonize by last names, such as Rose Weasley and James Potter. Otherwise it would be much too confusing - they breed like rabbits.

"Does this sort of thing happen in your family every day?" Higgins-The-Drip asks Weasley, referring to the spectacle her cousin just made.

"Not every day," she replies, unconsciously pushing her bright red hair back. "Maybe two out of three?"

I barely pay attention to his reaction. Instead I'm observing Weasley. Not in a creepy way - it's just that by watching her reactions, I can tell what will annoy her. Like right now. She's supposedly dating the stuck up prick beside her, but she won't even allow their arms to touch. Either she doesn't like him or is uncomfortable in public. Either way, I know what I do next will annoy her. I gesture between the two of them so only she can see and pucker up my lips slightly.

As I predicted, she blushes - all the way down her neck and beneath the collar of her robes. Before I can start wondering where that blush goes like I normally do - hey, I'm a teenage male - she points between me and Dom and puckers up her lips as well. I grin and shrug, because I know she hates that we're going out or snogging or shagging or whatever (although I haven't actually shagged her, or anyone for that matter, but that's a secret).

Sure enough, she flushes again, stomps on my foot under the table, which doesn't really hurt that much, and storms off. I chuckle, because she's so funny when she's annoyed.

"She must be mentally imbalanced," I say to Dom, who's looking curious.

"She is not!" Higgins argues. I can't help rolling my eyes. I wonder how Weasley puts up with him. I know she generally liked to fight her own battles, and I'm glad she does, because she's really the only witch who's smart enough to keep up with my comments. But this prat is taking the fun out of it for me.

I'm about to tell him so when Dom smiles at him. "You're so sweet, Josh."

He blinks. He can't withstand Dominique's powers of flirting. Most boys can't, actually, but I can safely say I see right through it. She's sexy to some, but she's not my type. I really am only in it for the snogging. That, and it makes all the other boys look up to me.

The pansy finally responds. "Erm...yeah."

What a brilliant boy.

"I'd love to have someone stick up for me," she sighs, leaning across the table towards him, sneaking a glance at me to make sure I've heard. I roll my eyes and get up - I can't stand another minute of this shit.

Dom catches me in the hallway. "You know I was just kidding, Scorp," she whispers, before kissing me strongly. I kiss her back mechanically. Thank Merlin, I never seem to have the embarrassing situation the other boys have had who've gone out with her - the stuff going on in their pants. Many a student has come into class with, well, an extra wand in their pocket.

I push her off after a bit. "I'm going to be late for class."

"Fine," she sighs, a disappointed look on her face. "I better go fix my hair."

I hide the eye roll by turning away towards the dungeons for Potions. As I descend the steps, I see that only Weasley and Albus are outside the dungeon door. Upon seeing me, Al groans as if he's in pain.

"What?" I ask, alarmed. He just moans again. Something is up, I can tell from Weasley's smirk.

"I don't think red is your colour, lipstick wise," she muses.

_Oh, shit!_

I run upstairs to the boys' bathroom. Merlin, no wonder Al was groaning. Me hair is sticking up, my collar is off center and I have red lipstick smeared on my mouth.

I make sure to clean myself up thoroughly before going back five minutes late. Professor Slughorn shoots me a look but doesn't comment - Dad is bribing him with sugared pineapple to secure my spot as Head Boy, something that annoys me, but he won't stop even though I've asked him many times. I suppose it comes in useful for situations like these.

"Where were you?" Dom whispers as I slide in beside her.

"Wiping your damn lipstick off," I hiss.

"It was the long lasting kind," she says, as if that justifies it. This sets Weasley smirking again. I really want to strangle Dominique, but I settle for another eye roll.

**-TTIHM-**

I loosen my tie and unbutton the top two buttons of my shirt. I'm finally done all today's classes. They really put us through the grind today.

I'm about to go grab my broom to practice a little - flying always relaxes me. But I see Weasley wrapping a cardigan around herself and looking over her shoulder before slipping out through a side door. I wonder who she's avoiding. Ten Galleons it's me!

Acting on a whim, I follow her silently. This could be good. If she sneaks off to Hogsmeade or is doing something against rules in the Forest, I could use it to blackmail her. I am a Slytherin, after all.

She doesn't head toward the forest or Hogsmeade though. Instead, she walks towards the lake. I'm curious, so I duck behind trees to follow her, making sure she can't see me.

She pauses by the lake, and wraps her arms around her body absently, looking around. Eventually she begins pacing back and forth, chewing her lip like she's worrying about something, a little crease denting her forehead. The squid splashes a tentacle, and she reaches into a pocket and tosses out a biscuit for it.

As she continues pacing, I see Higgins some distance off. He catches sight of Weasley and starts walking over. Did she arrange to meet him here?

Once he's closer, he starts tiptoeing, making as little noise as possible. Weasley is still deep in thought, so she doesn't hear. A few metres away, he crouches and springs at her.

He hits her in the side, and they roll over a few times in he grass. Oh, Merlin, he's got his full weight on her. Can't he see that he's crushing her? Stupid prat.

She says something to him - I can't hear from here - and he rolls off her. He pulls her up, and then he kisses her. Oh, Merlin I'm going to murder him! Who the fuck does he think he is?

I'm so angry, I just might explode. My nails are digging into the tree trunk, hard. Now I'll have to admit to Weasley that she was right, of course, that she's not a prissy prude, and I'll lose the small edge I have.

Weasley, who's been mostly unmoving till now, throws herself into the kiss suddenly, holding on tightly and pulling him closer. My fingers twitch away from the bark as if to find Higgins' neck, but I force them back.

Then a thought comes to me. I can still call Weasley a prissy prude, because I don't have to tell her I've seen her kissing.

Surprisingly, this thought doesn't make me feel much better.

They get up after a while, and I realize it's probably almost supper. I have to dart behind trees again on the way back. Higgins has his arm around Weasley and is towing her back; hopefully she won't turn around. She does once, however, and I stay very still behind a tree. Eventually I hear their fading footsteps again, so I sprint to my dorm.

I curse as I stand in front of the mirror, pulling a bur out of my hair. I pat down the back of my head and my shirt as well to make sure there are no leaves stuck - if Weasley sees any it might not take her long to figure out where I was. My nails are bruised, broken and bloody from digging into the tree. I cast a simple healing spell on them.

I head up to supper. As I enter the Hall my eyes flash to the Gryffindor table out of habit. Dom's back is to me, and across from her are Weasley and Higgins. My fists clench once more, at the vapid expression on his face, before I catch Weasley staring at me. I quickly compose my expression and send my usual scowl at her. She scowls back, although she looks a little confused.

I quickly turn towards the Slytherin table - I need a break from all relationships, including mine. But apparently, I'm not allowed to do that. I get a shrill call from the Gryffindor table. "Scorpy!"

_Scorpy?!_ What in the name of Merlin's saggy left arse cheek?

I turn grudgingly. Dominique is batting her eyes so obviously that I can feel the breeze it's making over here. Weasley appears to be either laughing, coughing or choking. Higgins has that insipid expression on his face as usual.

"Didn't you see me here?" Dominique asks flirtatiously. That tone is really getting on my nerves. So I use universal male communication - the grunt - and grab a turkey leg that I pretend is Higgins' head.

I don't look to see Dom's reaction. Hopefully she'll shut up. But no, of course not, because I'm not allowed a damn moment of peace. "So what were you doing all afternoon?"

"Yes, Scorpy, do tell," Weasley adds smugly. I try to convey _call me that again and I will fucking chop off your tongue and feed it to you_ to her with my glare before going my back to my turkey and muttering, "Quidditch."

Dom is definitely offended now. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her reach across the table and brush her hand along Higgins' arm. He, of course, is completely incoherent and useless. Weasley's staring at the space above my head with that little fold in between her eyebrows, as if she's worrying or trying to figure out something, I'm not sure what. But I'm guessing it's the fact that her boyfriend is completely taken in by Dom. She doesn't need to worry about that, though. I mean, because no one needs to worry about that boy.

So to distract her, I kick her lightly under the table. She jumps slightly and looks at me, but I give no indication. She shrugs to herself and goes back to worrying. So I kick her once more. Now she stares indignantly at me, and before long I feel her kick me. I kick back almost immediately. She just goes back to pondering whatever it is she's pondering, which annoys me. So I swing my foot towards her once more, but this time she catches it and quickly pushes up my pant leg. Her surprisingly soft hands pull out my sock, stuff something moist in it, and let it snap back into place before she pushes my leg towards me again. All this was so quick I barely had time to think iWhat the-/i much less complete the expletive.

I cautiously pull back my sock, and the better part of a devilled - now scrambled - egg is stuffed inside. I look up, completely horrified, because I absolutely detest egg, although Weasley doesn't know that.

Weasley bursts out into laughter, which she quickly covers up by coughing when the other two look at her. I'd almost forgotten about them.

Higgins decides to play the brave, heroic knight again and thumps her on the back, which would have helped had she actually had a coughing fit. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, since it was funny) this sends her into a real coughing fit. Once I've taken the egg out of my sock, I start laughing at her. When she finally stops, I get a glare. It was worth it, though.

**-TTIHM-**

Dominique is flirting with Higgins again. She invited him up to her common room, I think to get revenge on me, but I came because Al said he was coming up. He's nowhere to be found, though, so I sit in the darkest corner. Some Gryffindors can be quite hostile.

Weasley comes down from her dorm. I assume she is going to do homework, since she has a roll of parchment, quills and ink. She sees Dom and Higgins, hesitating for the tiniest portion of a second before looking around. Her mouth twists slightly when she realizes the only free seat is across from me. She walks over somewhat uncertainly. I smirk. This should be entertaining.

"Missed me already, Weasley?"

"Over our snit, are we?" she asks. It takes me a second to figure out what she's talking about, but of course it's my behavior at supper.

"Yes, the reason for it is currently not applicable," I say airily. And it's true, the reason for the snit is at the opposite end of the room right now, with my girlfriend.

She frowns slightly, but then just works on the Potions essay we've been assigned. She's got about half a foot when I interrupt her. Her wording on the use of bezoars is incorrect, though she probably meant the correct use. "That's wrong."

"What?" she demands.

"Bezoars don't have healing properties," I inform her, maybe just a little bit smug.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to fall for that, ferret?" She sits back, annoyed. The use of the term 'ferret' for me annoys me, because I don't like being compared to my father. He was sort of a pompous, scheming, cowardly arsehole at this age. But then I suppose I am too, on a smaller scale, so I swallow the strange burn in the back of my throat. I annoy Weasley a little to compensate.

"You didn't let me finish," I reprimand her, wagging a finger at her which I know from personal experience she hates. "I was going to say they have detoxifying properties, not healing properties."

She stares openmouthed at me for a bit.

"Oh," she finally manages. I wait.

"Erm...thanks," she adds uncertainly. I feel a strange urge to tell her she's welcome, but I don't use conventional manners with Rose Weasley, so I just nod sagely as if accepting my due.

I glance over at Dominique, who is making a huge spectacle of herself, giggling and draping herself over that boy. I'm currently wondering why I was attracted to her at all. Higgins seems stunned, and can't really talk much right now. Then Dom glances over at me, and I realize her plan: to win back my attention.

Weasley follows my gaze and looks somewhat disgusted. Not that I blame her. But she's probably worried about her boyfriend (if you could call him a boy, really, he's such a pansy) falling easy prey to Dom's not-so-charming charms.

"She'll stop being all over him as soon as I go back to being all over her," I tell Weasley, because the line that appeared between her eyebrows briefly was bothering me.

"She better," Weasley said. I looked at her. She was slouched in her chair, playing with her quill, and it sounded like she was making an attempt to sound angry, but it had sounded bored. At that point I realize something crucial.

"It doesn't matter to you, does it?"

"Of course it does!" she says angrily. But something is off. I know how she is angry - Merlin, I'm the one who makes her angry - and this isn't it. Her eyes aren't flashing and her hair doesn't seem to flame as it normally does. Her whole person isn't alive and crackling with her energy. She has absolutely no feeling on the subject. So naturally I smirk. "I thought not."

Whenever she's annoyed, se throws down whatever's in her hands and glares at me. In this case it's a quill, and she proceeds as usual. "Were you not listening? I said it does!"

"But you didn't mean it," I say, shrugging. It was obvious.

Surprise flashes across her face - a clear indicator I'm right, as usual - but she straightens her expression quickly. "I did. And sod off. It's none of your bloody business!"

Well...it sort of is, now that I've been watching them... I smirk at her. "Have it your way, Weasley. But it is about to become my business very soon."

"What the hell?" I don't know what meaning she's getting from that, but judging from the expression on her face, it can't be good. Just then, I notice Higgins walking over here, and I get unreasonably angry all over again. But I think of an idea.

I lean across the table very slowly, until my face is at Weasley's shoulder I push her hair back slightly so I can whisper in her ear. "He's coming over here."

She blushes slightly and looks over at him. He looks angry with me, though he's doing his best to hide it. Good. Maybe we'll see some action today.

Weasley turns back to me, somewhat panicky. "Leave!"

But I really want to stay, not because I'm a voyeur, but because I can use this against her later. "No, this chair is comfortable."

She glares at me, before Higgins reaches her and pulls her in for a kiss. It's disgusting, how into it he is. She's not though - her eyes are open. Ha! I was right! He is still enjoying it far too much - she must be a really good kisser.

Merlin, I really want to whack him upside the head right now. Preferably with a Blast-Ended Skrewt. The blast end of a Blast-Ended Skrewt. When they finally pull apart, that prick grins smugly, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as if to make sure I noticed it. Hell, I bet the entire common room noticed it.

Josh pushes Weasley's hair back. "I have to go," he says in a low voice. "It's almost past curfew."

"Night," Weasley responds, as he climbs out of the portrait hole.

She smiles to herself as if lost in the moment, but I just know she knows I'm watching. She sighs wistfully, and I pretend to gag as she sinks back down into the armchair.

"Enjoyed the show, you voyeur?" she asks cheekily.

"Please," I wave it off. "When are you breaking up with Prince Charming?" Because that has to get old for her sometime.

"Never," she squeals, just to piss me off. "We're going to get married!"

I pull my self up, rolling my eyes. "I give it a month, Weasley," I tell her, winking. Just before I get through the hole, I see her start to blush.

I get back to my dorm. Al eyes me suspiciously. "Why are you so_ happy_?"

"Happy? I'm not happy. Why would you think I was happy?"

"You're grinning," he observes with a raised eyebrow. "Like a lovesick fool."

"Grinning? Me? Don't be ridiculous," I tell him as I do my best to straighten out the grin I didn't know I had.

He groans. "Don't tell me. You had a particularly...er...satisfying snogging session with my cousin again, didn't you? Merlin, why can't you two just get over each other already?"

I shrug, avoiding the snogging question. Al just shudders before climbing into his bed and pulling his curtains quickly.

I undress and get into my own bed, staring up at the ceiling. After a while my cheeks start to hurt. I realize I've still got that stupid grin on my face. And I can't seem to make it go away.

**Hello, all you wonderful people out there who have followed my story! :D Don't Forget to revieeeew!**

**~Livelaughlove25 xx**


	8. The Teenage Dictator

_Please don't tell me you know what rules to go by_

_I could run away and leave you anytime_

_Please don't tell me you know the plans for my life_

_I could run away and leave you here to stay inside dreaming_

_~Oh My God by Cults_

**Disclaimer: why would I want to infringe? Everyone is so much happier with this option.**

Dom and Malfoy appear to have resolved their issues. At least, if their tongues in each other's mouths as they're badly hidden behind a tapestry is any indication. I shudder and continue walking. Al, who's walking with me, seems to be in a state of shock. All he can say is "urrrggghhhh."

They walk into Transfiguration a few minutes late, hand in hand. Professor Chang shoots them a cold look. "How kind of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Weasley."

They quickly sit in the seats behind me as Professor Chang demonstrates Undetectable Extension Charms. "Flick left, flick right, then swish, while saying the incantation."

As she sends the little pouches we're practicing on flying towards us, I turn and look at Malfoy contemplatively.

"What?" he demands.

"I think coral lipstick suits your colour better then red," I muse. He curses and covers his mouth with his hand.

"Dom, you have to stop using lipstick," he mutters.

Dom shakes her head. "I'll keep wearing the coral. She's right, it does suit you."

Malfoy glares at her, before getting up to move to a seat beside Al. Dom looks chagrined, but I chuckle.

**-TTIHM-**

I didn't feel like sitting with the Dominique-Scorpius lovefest this lunch, so I'm with Al at the Slytherin table. The crowd here is interesting. It seems to keep other people such as Josh Higgins away.

Malfoy suddenly plops down beside Al and I curse silently. Surely this means Dom is on her way.

But no, I hear her laugh behind me and turn to see her flirting with Josh once more, who seems sort of incapable against her. Can't blame him. I turn back around.

"I was right," Malfoy says triumphantly. "It doesn't matter to you."

I curse silently again.

"What?" asks Al.

"Of course it matters," I say, ignoring Al.

"Then why aren't you over there stopping her?" he demands, meaning Dom and her flirting.

"Who?" asks Al. Again, I ignore him.

"I'm not going to be the jealous possessive girlfriend," I tell him, smug that I've found a good reason.

"_What?_" demands Al, more insistent this time.

Malfoy doesn't answer him, just snorts at me. "Please. You always overreact. As if you could be that mature."

I just glare at him. But before I have a chance to respond, Al stands up, knocking over his goblet.

"FINE!" he shouts. "Don't tell me anything!"

I gape at him. Malfoy is the first to recover.

"Calm down, mate," he says soothingly. "We're just talking about my girlfriend and her boyfriend."

Al exhales, and then sits down just as abruptly knocking over the gravy boat this time.

A point suddenly occurs to me, and i follow it. "Tell me something then. Why don't you care what's going on?"

"Maybe I'm just in it for the snogging," he smirks, knowing how that image will disturb me. He doesn't think about what his best friend's reaction will be, though. Al groans again at the mention of them snogging and puts his head down on the table. Unfortunately it lands right in his rice, and conversation is halted for a while as we attempt to stop it from sticking in his hair.

"Even so," I resume, yanking at a particularly stubborn grain at the crown of his head, "you could be losing your... er... snogging source."

Malfoy shrugs. "I'll find another."

I grit my teeth and pull a little too hard.

"OUCH!" Al screams. I look in consternation from the handful of hair in my hand to the bald patch on his head. Malfoy starts laughing.

Al feels the top of his head gingerly and his eyes widen in horror when he encounters the patch. I quickly put the hand holding the hair behind my back.

"It doesn't look that bad," I lie. Malfoy only laughs louder and Al moans, covering it with his hands.

"I can fix it," I say desperately. "Al, move your hand."

"No!" he exclaims. "You must be mad!"

"I'll do it," volunteers Malfoy, still sniggering. Al takes his hand off his head. Malfoy starts laughing again at the bald area and his hand shakes as he casts the regrowth spell. There's a flash of light and a bang.

I step away and stand with my mouth open. Malfoy shuts up abruptly and stares. There is a dead beat of silence in the entire Hall, before all the students who can see simultaneously break out into laughter. Al looks very, very worried. "What did you do?"

I can't bring myself to tell him. Fortunately (or unfortunately) it's not necessary. He catches his reflection in the side of a goblet and gasps. "You...turned...my...hair...purple?!"

"Erm... At least it's grown back," Malfoy offers weakly. Al punches him and runs out of the hall, probably to the hospital wing.

Malfoy turns at me. "This is all your fault!"

"Me?!" I demand. "You were the one to cast the spell!"

"Yes, but you made the bald spot!"

The students at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables are staring at us.

"And I would have fixed it!" I yell, standing up. "And properly!

The Hufflepuff students look over.

"Oh, please!" He's on his feet now, and sneering down at me. "You can't even pick a boyfriend. What makes you think you can handle spell casting?"

The whole Hall, now including the Gryffindor table, lets out a collective "oooh!"

My vision goes red. And then suddenly, I remember something I missed in my morning routine. Inconveniencing the arse in some way. So I use a spell out of my mother's favourites: the evil little canaries. He screams ad covers his head as they dive at him and attempt to peck his eyes.

"Who can't cast spells, Malfoy?" I ask sweetly, then sweep off, leaving him to the mercy of the birds.

**-TTIHM-**

It gave me a tremendous sense of satisfaction earlier today when Malfoy walked into Arithmancy because of the shallow scrapes all over his face. He had glared at me balefully, then gone to sit beside Al (Dom had chosen not to take this class). Al had gotten his hair fixed before class started without too much inconvenience, and therefore had forgiven Malfoy and me. In fact, James had even convinced him that he would go down as the first in Hogwarts history to have been both bald and purple-haired within two hours, and this cheered him up immensely. Sometimes I just don't know about those boys.

James is currently yelling at me to stop dreaming - we're just about to start Quidditch practice. I sigh and roll my eyes at him before kicking off and flying to the goalposts.

James is tossing the Quaffle up and catching it. He yells to our chasers, Kim Jordan, Ariana Bell and Perceval Dalrymple that they'll be trying a new move on me.

"It's called the O'Malley Attack," he calls above the wind. "It's named after that chaser on the Irish team who scored enough goals to gain a 530-point lead. I'll demonstrate first. Rose, try to stop me."

He flies backward to about halfway down the field, then flies right at me as if to tackle me. But I'm not fooled. I just know he's going to duck under. So when he does, I flip backwards in the air and attempt to knock the Quaffle out of his hands, but he cuts left and tries to throw around me. Luckily he's throwing at an angle that, when I complete my flip, allows me to catch it out of the air.

James pulls back and starts to turn red. There are snickers from our team. "Maybe you should stick with Seeking," Kim calls.

"It's because Rose did well," he waves it off. "Now I want all of you to try."

The Chasers take turns attempting to score on me, while James talks to the Beaters. None of them gets it past me. Eventually they move some way down the field, discussing variations briefly. I look around idly, and see Malfoy coming out the side entrance of the school, broom in hand. He stops when he sees us, and looks annoyed. But then I think he sees me looking, smirks and turns around to walk back in.

At the same time, something whistles past my ears. Ariana shouts happily. "Finally!"

I turn slowly, and the Quaffle is hovering on the other side of the goal. Bollocks.

Janes flies over to me. "Rose! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? This isn't a game here! This is Quidditch!"

I open my mouth to correct him, but he doesn't let me get a word in edgewise. "You must be losing it! What were you thinking of?"

"Nothing important," I say, meaning it.

"Then don't let it distract you," he says with one last glare before flying off.

Merlin. You'd think I had missed the school exploding, the way he's talking.

The Chasers start trying the O'Malley attack again, and I save them as usual. Practice is quite monotonous today. As I get used to the attack, I do it more automatically.

The side door opens as I catch another and throw it out to the field. Malfoy and Dom come out, hand in hand, walking towards the Forest. I save another attempt and toss it to one of the Chasers, watching Dom and Malfoy out of the corner of my eye.

A little way inside the forest, they start kissing again. I catch yet another Quaffle, paying even less attention to it now. They keep kissing, and I turn my head a little more, I can't seem to look away. I'm angry, and disgusted, and also...something else, but I can't seem to put my finger on it...

"ROSE!"

Something hard and red hits me in the face.

Ow.

That really, really hurts. I try to fly down, but I seem to be going sideways. I lose my grip on the broom.

Janes catches me and supports me on his broom, cursing as he gets me to the ground. Or at least, I think it's ground - the way it's waving makes it seem like water. Strange.

James shouts something at me and I cringe, because the inside of my head is now an echo chamber. Plus, it's really not fair that there are four of him, all ganging up on only one of me. He/they gets me into the school, and I cringe again at the overly bright gas lamp on the wall beside us before it all turns black.

**-TTIHM-**

I'm swathed in something warm and soft. It's comfortable, so comfortable I don't want to open my eyes, but then I hear a voice.

"Rose, I know you're awake!"

It's Dom. I open one eye. "You're very sensitive."

"You moved," she shrugs. I open my eyes fully, taking in the faces of James, Al, Lily, Josh, the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, Dom, and... Malfoy.

As soon as he sees my eyes open, his expression changes from emotionless to bored. "Yes, she's awake. Can I go now?"

"No, stay," Dom tells him.

"No, go," I say.

But he doesn't, maybe because he knows Dom will not be happy.

I sit up. Surprisingly, there's hardly any pain at all. Lily hugs me. "Rose, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Don't be daydreaming next time," James tells me sternly, but I can tell he feels bad. I smile at all of them.

Madam Pomfrey walks in. "You're fine to leave, if you'd like."

"Thank you so much," I say to her.

"You're welcome," she replies. "Just lucky you didn't break anything. But take this potion, you might have a headache tomorrow." She hands me a little brown flask before going back to her office.

My family and I walk down to dinner. I know from experience that the potion in the flask tastes awful so I mix it with my pumpkin juice.

In other news, Malfoy's ignoring Dom again. I don't know if he thinks it'll make her appreciate him more, but if so he's wrong. Dom likes boys who will do absolutely anything for her. And I suppose I don't. At least, if my experience with Josh has been any indication.

Speaking of Josh, he's coddled me since I got out of the hospital wing. It was sweet at first, but really, you'd think I was disabled. How do I tell him nicely that I can open my own damn doors sometimes?

Oh, Merlin. He's _feeding_ me now.

He grins at me, lifting the fork to my mouth. I smile back at him with my teeth clenched, after swallowing. Dom is staring across the table with barely concealed envy and Malfoy is staring with completely unconcealed disgust.

As I'm making note of this, Josh taps my lips. "Open wide."

I grudgingly open wide.

Malfoy snickers, imitating Josh. "Open wide, Rosie, here comes the broom! And would the ickle baby wike some stwained cawwots and a bottle?"

I can't help smiling a little, though I snatch the fork from Josh as if I'm embarrassed. (Which I am.) But it was exactly what I was feeling like. Josh takes great offense and glares at Malfoy who smirks back unconcernedly. It really smells like testosterone in here.

I do my best to ignore them and just eat my food. Hugo walks past, informing on his way that my muscles are tense, and I need to breathe deeply and check my chakras, and would I maybe like to learn how to do that at his yoga lessons, only two Sickles per class? Erm, no thanks.

He shrugs and walks on. I guess, as the Rama Rama, rejection doesn't bother him. I wonder how it will affect him when Spandex Girl turns him down - she has to get tired of him eventually.

Malfoy is chuckling at Hugo. Excuse me, but I'm the only one allowed to laugh at my brother! I kick him under the table, hard, and he chokes on his potato. Dom has to thump him on the back repeatedly, until it eventually flies out straight across the table and hits Josh in the face. He looks completely repulsed. When we all start laughing, me included, I can't help it, he looks extremely offended and marches off, presumably to a bathroom somewhere.

"You can thank me now," Malfoy says arrogantly after he's done coughing/laughing.

I stare at him in utter confusion. "Why the hell would I need to thank you?"

"I drove him off for you," he shrugs.

Now I'm confused about what to say, because I do sort of appreciate that, but that'll be admitting he's right. Luckily Dom takes the matter out of my hands. "Why would she want to drive him off? He was being so wonderful!"

Malfoy snorts. "Because he was mollycoddling and bloody spoon-feeding her like a baby?"

"I would love that," Dom sighs. "You never do anything like that for me..."

"And I'm not going to, either," he retorts. It's almost as if they've forgotten I'm there. I'm staying. This seems like it's getting good.

"I wish you would," Dom sighs, laying her head on his arm.

"Maybe you should date Josh, then," he replies caustically, moving his arm. Her head drops and hits the table. She sits up very straight, looking extremely offended.

"Maybe I will, then!" she exclaims angrily.

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Dom huffs and stomps out. Malfoy continues eating. I stare at him in shock.

"What?" he asks after swallowing.

"She just broke up with you, and you don't care?" I say incredulously.

"She'll come around," he sighs. If I didn't know any better I'd think it was regretful.

I just shrug. If he's hellbent on committing social suicide - Dom can be quite vicious - there's nothing I can do. Not that I would do anything even if I could. Because it really doesn't matter to me. I finish and get up to leave.

"Leaving already?" he says. "I hope it's not to go chasing after your pansy of a boyfriend."

"What does it matter to you where I go?" I demand suspiciously.

"It doesn't," he shrugs. "But if it did I'd tell you not to waste your time."

"You did tell me not to," I frown. This is getting weirder by the second.

"No I didn't," he insists.

"Yes, you did!" I shout, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation. He's really getting to me.

"No," he says calmly. "If you recall my previous words, I think you'll find they were "I hope it's not to go chasing after your pansy of a boyfriend" and that implies distant disapproval."

"Distantly disapprove this, Malfoy," I growl, flipping him the bird. He just smirks in response, then pretends I've stabbed him in the heart. Rolling my eyes, I walk up to my common room.

**-TTIHM-**

Dom and Malfoy have apparently made up again, since tonight they've decided to play tonsil hockey. I shudder and leave the common room, deciding to go on a wander again. I've been doing this a lot lately.

As I turn off the staircase I see Josh hurrying towards me. I sigh - I don't want to deal with this now. But he's seen me, so there's no way to avoid it. I turn to face him as he arrives.

"Rose, I forgive you," are the first words out of his mouth.

Well, this throws me. What am I being forgiven for?

"I forgive you for laughing at me earlier," he clarifies in response to my blank state.

I blink. "Erm, I didn't apologize."

"I know your Weasley pride stops you," he says, "but I know you're feeling wretched on the inside."

I am? This is news to me.

"So I've decided to forgive you," he continues condescendingly. As if he's saint whatever and I've committed a horrific sin.

"Glad to hear it," I deadpan, but he doesn't pick up on my sarcasm.

"There are conditions, though," he says, lifting a reprimanding finger like a damn teacher.

"Conditions?" I repeat, in a low, dangerous voice, which again he doesn't pick up on. Merlin, this boy is so clueless!

"Very easy to follow," he assures me.

"Oh, that's good," I reply, my tone drowning - forget dripping - in sarcasm again, but it's lost on him.

"So firstly, you just have to make sure you don't speak to Malfoy," he begins, "but that should be easy. Because I don't like the way he looks at you. I'd really prefer you don't talk to any boys, other than the ones you're related to, and me, of course, but I'll be realistic. Secondly, be beside me at all times. Thirdly, you have to quit the Quidditch team - your team beat ours last year, mostly because you were Keeper, and we want a turn. I promise next year I'll quit so you can have a turn to win. And lastly, when we get married, I'd like to choose the wedding colours. That's all. Love you. Bye!"

And he kisses me on the forehead before running off.

My mouth is hanging open in shock. What the bloody hell? Who does he think he is? If I wanted someone to tell me what to do all the time I'd go talk to Uncle Percy!

Someone starts slow clapping behind me and I turn around. "Merlin's arse, Malfoy, why are you following me around?!"

"Merlin's arse doesn't have much to do with it," he smirks, maddeningly calmly as usual. "This just provides constant entertainment. It's too bad I didn't have time to go down to the kitchens and have some popcorn made for me."

"Shouldn't you be off doing something highly inappropriate with my cousin right now?" I ask, annoyed.

"This is more fun," he shrugs.

"Really?" I ask skeptically.

"When she's angry, yes," he admits.

I raise an eyebrow. "Angry?"

He scowls, seeming to realize he's given something away he didn't mean to. "None of your bloody business. Aren't you not supposed to be talking to me, anyway?"

"That's the only reason I am," I tell him. He considers this for a moment, then bursts out laughing really loudly.

"You're different," he finally says, still chuckling.

"Glad you figured it out," I say sarcastically.

"One month," he adds, suddenly.

It takes me a while to get it, but I realize he's talking about me and Josh. "Not a chance."

"You're right," he agrees. "Maybe we should lower it to two weeks."

I sigh, because he's probably right. But I'll never admit it, meaning I'll have to stay with Josh for at least two weeks. I guess the dictator was right about one thing: I do have Weasley pride. I start walking down the stairs, away from Malfoy, but he starts walking with me. "Where are you going?"

"To Timbuctoo," I reply sourly, but he just stares at me confusedly. Muggle metaphors are lost on him.

"Look," I begin, "either go make up with Dom or go break up with her, just leave me alone."

"That's not nice," he smirks.

"Your _mother_ isn't nice," I mutter. "Go away!"

"I like it here," he says irritatingly.

"Merlin, Malfoy," I growl. "Get a life!"

"Get a better boyfriend, then we'll see," he smirks.

"What is with that boyfriend obsession?" I demand.

"I don't like him."

"I don't like you," I inform him, "yet I put up with you going out with my cousin."

"But you're not my cousin," he says randomly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I shout, throwing my hands up.

"It has everything to do with it," he says quietly.

"I'm glad we're not related too," I growl. "You drive me crazy enough as it is."

"Thanks," he grins.

"You're like a pendulum," I say helplessly.

"Hmm?"

"You swing back and forth so much!"

His brow furrows. "No, I've always been straight. Is that not obvious?"

"Not that, you imbecile," I roll my eyes. "Your moods!"

"And now that I know you hate it, I'll do it that much more." He ducks away from the slap I aim at him, and I end up hitting the stone banister.

"OW!" I scream.

He starts laughing again. "It is just not your day!"

"_You broke my hand_!" I yell.

"No, _you_ broke it," he denies. "And I highly doubt it's broken."

"You wouldn't care either way!" I snarl, pressing it between my other hand and my chest. He looks at it. "No, I'm fairly sure it's fine."

"Shut UP! Just shut up! This is so unfair!"

"How exactly is it unfair?" he chuckles.

"How come you couldn't break your hand?" I demand. "How come it had to be me?"

"Firstly, because you tried to hit me. If you hadn't, you'd be fine. Secondly, I doubt it's broken, as I said before. Thirdly, I think you should go to bed. You're not exactly making sense."

I know I'm being somewhat irrational, but I refuse to admit it to him. "I'm making perfect sense. You're not making sense. And you dont care if it's broken or not!"

I trip over a protruding bit of the banister suddenly and scowl down at it. "Who put that there?"

He rolls his eyes. "Go back up to your dorm, Weasley."

"No!"

"You're so stubborn," he sighs. "What do people do with you?"

"They leave me alone!"

"That may not be safe right now," he murmurs, eyeing my hand which is still pressed against my chest, then my foot, which is sore from the recent trip.

"I was fine until you came along!"

He grabs my elbow and starts pulling me upstairs. "Come on, Weasley."

"Let go of me!"

He ignores me, his grip warm and firm.

"I swear, Malfoy, if you don't let go I'll - I'll -"

"You'll what?" he demands, looking down at me. "Call your pansy - sorry, boyfriend - on me? Yeah, I'm terrified."

He has me there, so I shut up. We reach the portrait door. I stand stubborn and silent, so he sighs and gives the Fat Lady the password (which I don't even want to know how he found out). "Grouch."

"I am not!" she says grouchily, then swings open. I stand there still, until Malfoy raises his eyebrows at me and I step in grudgingly before slamming the door in his face. I think I hear him chuckle quietly, but I can't be sure. I march upstairs and into bed.

Dom turns in her bed. "Why the loud footsteps?"

I stare at her, forgetting all about my annoyance at Malfoy. Her eyes are puffy and her nose is red. For once, doesn't look flawless. "What happened to you, Dom?"

She curses under her breath. "Forgot about that."

"What?"

She takes a deep breath. "Scorpius and I... We fought."

"Did he hurt you?" I gasp, because if he upset her this badly, he'll have me to answer to.

"It wasn't his fault," she sniffles.

"Then what happened?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "It was so stupid, so small... I told him he was not always very nice to you-"

"This is about me?!" I interrupt, feeling suddenly guilty.

"No! Just listen!"

I clamp my mouth shut and listen to Dom. She resumes her story. "So anyway, after I told him that, he said he wasn't aware it bothered you. I told him it probably didn't, but I'd like if I could be around both of you at the same time and have you not constantly at each other's throats. He replied that it wasn't going to happen, at least until you broke up with - and I quote - that pansy in a suit of armour."

I can't help laughing at the phrase. But then I realize what she's said. "Wait...you broke up because of Josh?!"

"It's complicated! Just listen!"

I pantomime zipping up my lips and am rewarded with a small giggle. She continues.

"So I defended Josh, and your taste. I told him Josh was a wonderful boy and would do anything for you. And then he said, 'You're serious? You wouldn't find that claustrophobic?' "

That's exactly what I've been feeling. Strange.

She hiccups a little, then goes on. "I said I wouldn't. I said I'd love to have someone do that for me, and he never did. At that point, he just put up his hands, told me motto expect anything like that, and left."

I'm feeling extremely guilty right now. "Er, Dom, maybe I should break up with Josh if he's causing-"

"No, no, no!" she exclaims. "That's not what I'm saying. Rose, I would never ask something like that of you!"

Bollocks. Then I would have had an excuse to give Malfoy when he said I told you so.

"But...I don't know about Scorpius," she says doubtfully. "Should we - I mean, should I -"

"No, you shouldn't," I tell her grudgingly, knowing as I say it it's going to turn around and bite me in the arse. "Believe it or not, he's not all bad. I suppose he has his moments."

Not that I actually know where these moments are - probably somewhere around Kazakhstan with my unicorns - but I suppose he has to be something other than a bossy prick at some point.

She smiles gratefully. "Thanks, Rosie."

Turning over, she begins snoring almost immediately, and I lie awake, wondering why the bloody hell I told her to stay with him when I had never wanted them together in the first place. And why it bothers me that I told her that.

**A/N: Hiiiiii :D I want to thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews, especially the guest reviewers I can't thank directly! If you review as a guest cause you can't be bothered to log in (I know the feeling) just leave your penname at the bottom of the review so i can message you! I updated extra early because we hit 25...did anyone notice?**

**An important point Condiotti brought up in a review: Chapters from Scorp's POV. I wrote the last one on request. If i think a chapter would benefit by being seen from both sides I will write an outtake. However, if you have any requests for a specific chapter, either review with them or PM me, and I'll see if I can write one! **

**Also, the songs I use at the top are songs I listen to while writing the chapter to get me in the mood - i strongly recommend looking them up and listening with the chapter! They are some of my favourites! A warning: some of it is mainstream, but not all. In fact some of it is SO off the beaten track that you run the risk of tripping over jungle vines, so to speak.**

**EDIT: omg I'm sooo sorry about the chapter mix up. All I can say is, I'm human, I make mistakes, I'll never let it happen again, do forgive me! And thanks to KneazleRose, Coconut Girl, and Condiotti for pointing it out very nicely!**

**So...you know what to do next...**

**~Livelaughlove2597**


	9. Cheater Cheater

_Bless your soul you got your head in the clouds _

_She made a fool outta you, and boy she's bringing you down _

_She made your heart melt but you're cold to the core _

_Now rumor has it she ain't got your love anymore_

_~Rumor Has It - Adele_

**Disclaimer: exercise is better than infringement. Life lesson, people.**

I walk into the Great Hall at breakfast with Josh beside me. Malfoy appears on my other side, murmurs "One week and six days!" into my ear, then passes us to go sit beside Dom at the Gryffindor table. I suppose he's looking to patch things up with her.

"What did Malfoy say?" frowns Josh, in dictator mode once more. I resist the urge to tell him it is none of his bloody business, because that will definitely lower the time frame to roughly five minutes instead of one week and six days.

"Nothing," I answer in a bored voice, sweeping off to sit across from Dom. He follows.

"Hi," Dom says brightly, holding hands with Malfoy on the table.

"Hi," I mutter. I'm not looking forward to my day - Double Potions, followed by Divination, followed by Herbology, which isn't quite as bad as the other two, but not my favourite. Now I like Potions, it's just that whenever we have double, Slughorn uses one of the periods to ramble on about connections and crystallized pineapple or something. Then I have another Quidditch practice, led by James, followed by prefect rounds with Malfoy. I eat all the sweet food I can find at the table - the pancakes and waffles, the French toast, all drowned in maple syrup - because I know I'm going to need it. I also plunk four sugar cubes into my tea.

Dom is staring at my plate disapprovingly.

"What?" I demand, after clearing my mouth. (I'm hungry, but I still keep my manners, unlike icertain member of my family I could mention./i

"That's so unhealthy," she says reproachfully, pointing at the food on my plate.

"Yes," I agree. "And?"

"Well, aren't you worried about putting on weight?" she asks, her nose wrinkled. "I would be..."

"Why?" I demand. "You're a twig!"

"Takes hard work," she sniffs. I roll my eyes and am about to start eating again when Josh stops me. "She's right, Rose."

I look at him incredulously.

"It isn't good for you," he explains. "Don't you want to look good for as long as possible? Someday all that will just go straight to your hips."

I'm seriously starting to wonder if he isn't gay, the way he's talking. I roll my eyes once more and go back to eating.

Josh takes my fork away mid bite, so my mouth is left hanging open like an idiot's. I snap it shut and glare at him.

"It's for your own good, Rosie," he shrugs apologetically.

I'm about to retaliate when Malfoy cuts in. "I think Weasley has the right idea. We're all going to die someday anyway, might as well make the most of it while we can." With that, he upends the maple syrup pitcher over his mouth, and drinks the few drops that are left. Dom and Josh stare at him, appalled, but I can't help laughing.

"Even I have to say that's disgusting," I chuckle.

Dom is just eyeing his stomach speculatively as if she thinks his abs are going to be miraculously replaced by a gut. (Yes, I know he has abs. How? I've punched him in the stomach multiple times.) Seeing her look, he stretches and contentedly pats his stomach with the air of a satisfied cat. She just rolls her eyes.

**-TTIHM-**

I'm sitting in Potions, doodling on a spare piece of parchment. Malfoy has ended up beside me, since Dom and Josh sat together to further discuss health foods. I wish them joy of it.

"...and now, I always get those wonderful round sweets from the Minister for Magic in India," Slughorn says with a flourish. "Now, he's wonderful to visit, lives in an old palace and very generous. Almost as liberal as the one in America. Oh, now she..."

I cannot believe it's only ten minutes into the class. I absent-mindedly draw a rose. Malfoy looks over, before taking out his quill and quickly drawing a scorpion. I frown at him - he's ruined my doodle!

He just smirks, before pulling the paper toward him and drawing a grid with nine squares. I look at him in confusion. He rolls his eyes and puts an x in the top left box.

Ohhh, he wants to play noughts and crosses. I mark an o in the box beside him. The first game is a draw. The next game, I win. He narrows his eyes at me as I make up a chart to tally all the games, very smugly putting a tally mark under my name.

Halfway through the second period, Slughorn is _still_ talking. I've won 24 games, but Malfoy is beating me at 26. I look up for the first time in an hour and see Josh and Dom staring at the two of us with narrowed eyes. I'm not sure what their problem is.

Slughorn finally checks the time on his gold pocketwatch. "Oh, dear! There are only fifteen minutes left! How time flies when we are discussing such interesting topics!"

"Yes, the excesses of the Americans as a topic is simply fascinating," Malfoy murmurs beside me. I can't help chuckling softly. We go back to our game. At the end of class, we are evenly tied 31-31. I stuff the parchment in my bag as Dom walks up, glaring at me. "Come on, Scorpius, let's _go_."

"What's with her?" I ask Josh in bewilderment. He just scowls at me and walks off.

Alright, now I'm confused. I silently follow them to the Great Hall for lunch. I sit across from Dom as usual, but se won't talk to me, she just glares. Eventually I can't take it anymore. "Dom, what is your problem?!"

"I believed you when you said you weren't trying to steal Scorpius," she accused, pointing a finger at me.

"What the fuck?" mutters Malfoy beside her, a look of shock on his face. I ignore him.

"And, what's changed since then?"

"You two getting all cozy in Potions," Josh says balefully.

"Cozy?" exclaims Malfoy incredulously.

"You were _passing notes_," Dom says conspiratorially.

I sigh and pull out the paper we played noughts and crosses on and pass it to her and Josh. They look over it and comprehension dawns simultaneously over their faces.

"Ohhhhhhh," they chorus. Malfoy rolls his eyes. Dom passes it back to me and I stuff it in my bag as they both apologize.

**-TTIHM-**

The Divination class is hot and stuffy as usual. To make matters worse, Trelawney is forcing us to drink hot tea without any sugar. I secretly Vanish mine then swill the dregs around and stare in it. It looks a little like a stone. Or maybe a cloud. Basically it's a sort of rounded, mostly shapeless thing.

Trelawney sweeps up to me, her bangles clinking. "What do you have dear? Let us see?"

She peers intently into my cup, then tsk's. "Looks like you will be unlucky in love, my dear. One you consider very close will take your current lover, and you will not realize your true love until it is almost too late."

"You and Josh are _lovers?!_" Dom mouths to me. After Trelawney sweeps off, I shake my head, rolling my eyes. "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!"

"Oh, good," Dom says, looking into her own cup. "Scorpius and I haven't, you know, either. I don't know why I'm waiting this time. Normally I would just-"

"Urgh!" I groan, covering my ears. "Enough, I don't _want_ to hear about your sexcapades!"

She smiles coyly and shrugs.

**-TTIHM-**

They normally don't do this outside our common room or the broom closets, but their tongues are wrestling at the dinner table. Dom and Malfoy, I mean. Rather, Dom is practically climbing up on him, and I think he's trying to push her off, but I can't tell.

Josh is gazing at them wistfully while shooting sideways glances at me. I keep eating. I don't care WHO it is - I will not kiss someone in the middle of the Great Hall. I stab into the steak and kidney pie rather viciously.

Malfoy finally succeeds in pushing Dom off and she settles beside him with a huff. He straightens his robes and runs his hand through his hair, making it stick up even more haphazardly.

"The bright pink is nice, but I still like the coral lipstick better," I tell him. He curses and scrubs at his mouth with a napkin.

"I don't understand why you always wipe away my kisses, Scorpy," Dom says, pouting. At the nickname, it takes all my effort not to spew my mouthful of pumpkin juice across the table.

"Because I don't want to look like a queen or a cross-dresser," he says irritably. This sounds fair enough to me, but Dom gets extremely offended and refuses to talk through the rest of dinner. Which, I'm slightly ashamed to say, I'm thankful for.

**-TTIHM-**

I hang around the Entrance Hall, where I'm supposed to meet Malfoy before our patrol. I'm early, but I didn't want to see him and Dom snogging in the common room. That could scar a girl for life and I already have multiple scars.

Suddenly, arms slide around my waist from behind me. I jump slightly, twisting around to see who it is. But the person holds me in place and won't let me.

"I missed you, Rose," Josh whispers in my ear before kissing my neck. I turn around to try to push him off, but he takes it the wrong way and starts kissing my lips instead.

I pull my face away. "Josh!"

He just moves back down to my neck, as his hand starts sliding up underneath my sweater. I try to push him away, but he presses closer and moans slightly.

"J-Josh, stop," I stutter, slightly frightened now.

"Mm-mm," he refuses, sliding his hand up further. And then he flies backward, landing on his arse. I look around and see Malfoy at the bottom of the stairs, his wand pointing at Josh, his lips pressed in a hard line, his nostrils flared, and his eyes steely. In other words, his furious expression.

Josh's expression of shock changes to anger as well. He pushes himself up off the floor. "What the fuck?"

"You should really watch yourself," Malfoy says in a cold, hard voice, walking towards Josh.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Josh hisses.

"A Prefect," retorts Malfoy. "Now go to your dorm unless you want a month of detention."

Josh glares at him, then turns on his heel and angrily marches up the staircase, ignoring me.

I turn to Malfoy once Josh is out of earshot. "Why?"

His eyes widen. "You _wanted_ him to force you?!"

"I mean, thanks," I add, my face reddening. "But I don't know why you would bother."

He stares at me for a while, his expression unreadable. He opens his mouth, then closes it, then looks down, saying, "I'm a Prefect. I make sure people follow rules."

I frown slightly, because he's never been one for the rules per se, but let it drop. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he says curtly. "Now let's start rounds." He points his wandlight towards the dungeon door and starts walking, gesturing for me to follow.

I catch up to him. "Aren't we, you know, patrolling separately like always?"

He stops, turning to look down at me, the wandlight reflecting off his still steely eyes and giving them flickers of gold. "You can leave if you'd like, but I didn't think you'd want to be alone in case that head case of a boyfriend of yours is hanging around somewhere."

It is so strange that I feel safer with him, my enemy, than with my supposed boyfriend. I shudder. "You're right, I don't."

"And he's not," I add a bit later.

"What?"

"Not my boyfriend," I sigh, knowing I'm admitting he's right and he'll never stop gloating.

He grins for the first time all night. "He isn't?"

"No," I mutter.

"What was that?" he asks smugly, leaning down towards me and cupping his ear as if to hear better.

"He's not my boyfriend," I repeat louder.

"Which means that?" he prompts. But I won't say it.

"Uh, it means that we're not dating."

"Which means that?"

I roll my eyes. "Which means that I don't like him any more."

"You never liked him," he scoffs. "Anyway, what does that mean?"

I don't respond, walking in silence and staring ahead.

"Here's a hint," he says helpfully. "What you should be saying is 'Malfoy you're right and the bestest bloke in the world and I'll shout that while standing on top of the table during dinner tomorrow.' "

I stay silent. He waits expectantly.

"Malfoy, you're right," I mutter.

He crosses his arms and taps his foot, checking his watch and looking at me.

"I'm not saying the rest," I inform him.

"Fair enough," he shrugs. "I'll take what I can get. But could you repeat the 'Malfoy is right' part once more? That was oddly satisfying."

Merlin, he's so _annoying._

"Malfoy, you're right," I repeat louder, then add, "just this once."

He grins at me once more. "See, that wasn't so hard!"

I roll my eyes.

**-TTIHM-**

We've been walking quite a while, and it's nearing the end of our shift. While I hate to admit it, it's been almost fun, the bickering. (I'm not crazy, I swear.)

We're currently on the fourth floor, where the windows are open, and I lean out of each one we pass, enjoying the breeze. Malfoy gets annoyed because he thinks I'm wasting time.

I lean out of the fifth window and sigh happily, the breeze blowing my hair around. Suddenly warm arms encircle my waist and tug me back, and I hear Malfoy muttering "Get inside, we have to keep walk-"

"Shhhh!" I say suddenly.

He glares at me indignantly. "I will not _shhh!_ Do you know what -"

Rolling my eyes I cover his mouth with my hand. This stops him in his tracks. I ignore his shocked expression, pointing down the hall and cupping my hand around my ear to indicate for him to listen.

We hear it - a slurping coming from the hallway around the corner. I drop my hand from Malfoy's mouth as he rolls his eyes and lets go of my waist. We creep silently down the hall and around the corner and are just outside the broom closet when we hear a voice.

"Do you think they'll find out?"

It's Dominique! I elbow Malfoy in the stomach - ow, that hurts! His stomach seems harder than my elbow - this is important. He nods - he knows it's her.

"I doubt it," laughs a male voice sneeringly - Josh! "They may be very book smart but neither one of them is street smart."

The little squit! He's cheating! Oh, I'll show him just how street smart i can be!

"I don't want to upset Rose," says Dom uncertainly.

"Rose won't care," says Josh with an edge to his voice. Malfoy raises an eyebrow at me and I lift one shoulder silently. All I can say is, Josh better watch out for his bollocks, because first chance I get I'm hexing them off.

"Aren't you more worried about upsetting Scorpius?" he asks her after a bit of slurping (ugh).

"Scorpius won't really care either," sighs Dom, and they go back to kissing.

Malfoy and I look at each other wide eyed. He holds my wrist, pulling me back the way we came. We creep silently around the corner, then sprint to the alcove near the staircase.

We stop there and Malfoy lets go of my wrist, eyeing me cautiously. "So, your boyfriend's cheating on you."

"So, your girlfriend's cheating on you," I respond.

We stare at each other for a moment before simultaneously bursting out into laughter.

About five minutes later, we wipe the tears of laughter away and sit up. Malfoy looks at me. "So let's agree on something."

"Which would be..."

"We break up with them at the same time in the most public place possible, in the most humiliating way possible," he suggest. I can't help laughing at this.

"Deal," I grin. We shake on it before going back down to meet the prefects that will take over our shift.

Two fifth-year prefects, both from Ravenclaw, are waiting in the Entrance Hall. We pass over the detention slip book. They're just about to leave when Malfoy stops them. "Oh, by the way, you might want to check all the broom closets on the fourth floor."

"Didn't you walk past them?" asks the boy suspiciously.

"Of course," I say indignantly. "But, we might have, er, missed something."

Before they can do more than frown suspiciously, Malfoy spins me around and we walk up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. I don't ask why he's walking me back; I know it's because he thinks Josh might be hanging around.

I'm about to step into the portrait hole when he stops me. "Wait. Shouldn't we decide how we're going to publicly humiliate them?"

I know he's referring to Dom and Josh, of course. "Erm, not sure. Should we do it tomorrow?"

"I think so," he agrees. "I think we should-"

He moves closer to whisper it in my ear and I laugh in delight. "That is wonderful. Breakfast, then?"

"Wouldn't miss it," he says with a mock salute, then turns to go downstairs as I climb through the portrait hole.

Dom is back in bed, appearing to breathe peacefully, but I hear her breathing pause as I come in. I'm not angry with her - she can have that arsehole. I'm just really excited for tomorrow, because he has no _idea_ what's in store for him.

**I'm back! Hehehe. Thank you all SO MUCH for all the reviews, alerts, favourites, etc. My inbox has been like, "Ping! You have a message." non stop and I LOVE IT :D Please keep it up!**

**~Livelaughlove25**


	10. Plotting with the Enemy

_Did I say that I loathe you? _

_Did I say that I want to _

_Leave it all behind? _

_I can't take my mind off you _

_~The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice_

* * *

"So, how are we going to do this?" Malfoy whispers as we stand partially hidden behind a statue.

I frown. "Erm, at breakfast? Standing on top of the table?"

"Oh, very good," he nods. "I think we should say-"

Lily pokes her head around the statue suddenly. We both jump slightly.

"Hey, sport," she says cheerfully. "What are you two doing together not tearing each other apart?"

"Plotting revenge," I say. "Leave us to it."

"Generally, you don't plot _with_ the person you're plotting _against_," she says doubtfully.

Malfoy rolls his eyes at her. "Please. We _know_ that. We're _experts_ at revenge by now."

Lily stares at me. "You do realize you're plotting revenge with your enemy, right?"

"No shit, Sherlock," I say sarcastically.

"Who's Sherlock?" asks Malfoy. "Is he a friend of yours or something?"

"No, Sherlock is this Muggle detective that-" Lily begins. Then she stops and shakes her head. "Why am I bothering? Never mind. Let's go to breakfast."

"We'll just have to wing it," I tell Malfoy as Lily pulls me off. He follows, nodding.

Lily eyes us. "You two need to stop making plans. You have no idea how nervous you're making me."

**-TTIHM-**

Dom and Josh are sitting with us, acting strange. I suppose, knowing what I know, the behavior isn't all that strange; it is pretty reasonable for the situation.

Scorpius is ignoring Dom, which is making her extremely edgy. At one point she takes his hand. "What's wrong, Scorpius? Do you have something you need to tell me?"

"Yes, I do," he says to her, then raises his voice. "Yes, I do."

He steps on to the table. I recognize my cue, and turn to Josh. "I have something to say to you as well."

Then I step on the table so Malfoy and I are back to back. He points his wand up, and conjures in gold letters the words IT'S OVER.

Dom gasps, shocked. This would be the first time she's been dumped instead of the other way around.

I do the same for Josh, only I can't help adding a couple words. It was really an irresistible temptation.

My message now reads IT'S OVER, YOU TWAT. I thought Malfoy's was a bit too tame.

To add to that, mine is in gold ribbon. When the message breaks apart, the ribbons fly down of their own accord and tie Josh up, then pull him up, apparently of their own accord so that he's suspended above the tables like a trussed-up turkey at Christmas. The ribbons hold him like that for a fews seconds, then abruptly disappear, so he falls with a_ splat_ into the large pot of scrambled eggs. He sits there, blinking at me, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

I feel a tremendous sense of satisfaction as I step off the table and walk towards the exit. Malfoy meets me in front of the doorway, and we turn and bow to the shocked hall of students before walking out.

**-TTIHM-**

"That was bloody excellent," Malfoy grins.

"It was," I agree, also grinning.

"Good work," he says almost pleasantly, then abruptly changes his tone. "This doesn't mean anything though Weasley. I'm going right back to hating you."

"You stopped?" I ask, arching an eyebrow.

"I considered stopping," he admits. "But it's just too much fun."

With that, he pokes me and runs off, laughing as I chase after him.

**-TTIHM-**

"Rose?" Dom asks, stepping timidly into the bathroom as I wash my hands at the sink.

I'm not annoyed with _her,_ so I turn and smile. "Hi."

"Y-you're not mad?" she asks, surprised.

"Not at you."

"But why not? I'd be angry with me," she says ashamedly.

I shrug. I don't really know why I'm angry with Josh and not her.

She sighs. "Well, I just wanted to let you know I didn't mean to hurt your feelings by kissing him. And I didn't mean to meet him last night, he was looking for you, I was looking for Scorpius, we couldn't find the two of you, the we saw Mrs. Norris, so we hid in the broom closet, and then-"

She's starting to go into hysterics, so I walk over and hug her. "It's alright, Dom, I told you I'm not angry with you. After all I'm not surprised you cheated on Malfoy, I'm angry with Josh because he thought he could cheat on ME and get away with it."

She laughs shakily. "Pretty stupid of him, wasn't it?"

**-TTIHM-**

"Hi, Red!" James yells down the table at me. Every single Weasley in the hall along with Lily turns to look at him.

"Hi to _all_ the Reds!" he exclaims. "But I need to talk to Rose."

Muttering and rolling their eyes, they all turn away.

"What do you want?" I sigh, because knowing James it will be completely pointless.

"I need your help in getting Ella to fancy me again," he whispers in my ear.

"No," I frown.

"What?!"

I roll my eyes. "People should say no to you more often."

"Why not?"

"Because you were a complete arse to her at Hogsmeade," I tell him patiently.

He sighs. "Yes Rose, but I said I was sorry!"

I raise an eyebrow. "If Voldemort said he was sorry, would that make up for his crimes?"

"I didn't kill anyone, Rosie!"

"I know, James," I say, exasperated. "It was an expression."

"You're no help," he scoffs. "I'll go ask Fred."

I look pointedly down the table at Fred, who appears to be trying to find out how many spoons he can hang off his face - he's at twelve. James huffs and stomps off defeatedly.

**-TTIHM-**

I walk towards Defense, Malfoy and Al ahead of me. I'm not really paying attention to what's going on around me, so I get a real shock when someone hits me with a Jelly Legs Jinx from behind and I fold over onto the floor.

"Alright," I snarl, attempting to push the feeling off my legs. "Who's the arsehole who did that?"

I look at Malfoy automatically, but he sniggers and points behind me. I turn my head to see Josh. The little bugger!

"What the bloody _hell_ do you think you're _doing?_" I demand angrily. My anger gives me strength to resist the spell and I stand up.

"I meant to hit Malfoy," he says.

I snort. "Yeah, right. I don't trust you. Once a cheater, always a cheater."

Anger flashes in his eyes. "That's your own fault."

"Excuse me?" I cannot believe this boy! "How is it _my_ fault that _you_ cheated on me?"

"You wouldn't put out," he says loudly, and there are giggles from the watching students.

I gasp. "So because I had self-respect, you got bored?!"

"Not self respect," he smirks. "You're just a prude."

I'm so angry I see red. So I send my little friends the evil canaries at him. The students around let out a collective _ooooooh_.

"Merlin!" he screeches as one of them dives at his eyes. "Get these little bastards off me!"

He attempts to get away from them, pushing past me. Malfoy conjures a rope, and levitates it to trip Josh when he passes.

Josh says a very bold word before falling flat on his face. He pulls himself up and begins running again.

Suddenly, the students stop laughing and drift off. I turn to see why, and I notice Professor Abbott-Longbottom walking towards us, her lips pressed in a hard line.

Oh, _bloody hell._

"Ms. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy! Detention tomorrow at eight, for fighting in the halls!"

"But, Aunt Hannah," I begin.

"That's Professor," she corrects.

"I wasn't really part of it," Malfoy objects.

"Yet you also cast magic, did you not?" she asks, raising her eyebrows. "So you too will have detention."

She walks off.

At the same time we both yell, "Bollocks!"

**-TTIHM-**

I called Al over to the Gryffindor table. Unfortunately, he invites his ferret friend. They insist the food tastes better over here. James is having what appears to be a very serious conversation with Fred, casting furtive glances in Ella's direction.

Hugo has the Spandex Wonder beside him once more. They're sipping clear green liquid that looks slightly suspicious. I see Lorcan and Lysander go up to him and deposit two Sickles each in his hand. Hmm, this is unexpected. I thought the only pupil he would get for his yoga class would be the Spandex Wonder beside him.

"That's Ava," Lily tells me, seeing me looking at the girl. "She's in my dorm and nutters about Hugo."

"About time," I mutter.

"I know," Lily agrees. "I was starting to think he was gay."

"Higgins?" asks Malfoy suddenly. Lily frowns at him.

"No. Merlin. Get over it. That's old news now."

"Well, _sor-ry_," he mutters, holding up his hands.

I'm lounging in my favorite armchair, talking to James. He approves of my breaking up with Josh.

"He was a prick," James nods for the twentieth time.

I roll my eyes. "You liked him before he asked me out."

"Exactly," agrees James. "But I have to say, you are much easier to protect than most of our other female relatives."

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Well, you never were one to date or snog, really," he shrugs.

"You mean I'm a prude?" I ask, hurt.

"Well, no, since you're my cousin, I don't."

I stare at him. "But if I wasn't, you'd think I was? A prude?"

Fred plonks himself down on a nearby chair, smirking at James. I ignore him.

"No," says James, casting about for something to add. "I mean, erm... You're just responsible."

"Responsible?" I demand.

"Like Molly!" he adds.

"You think I'm like _Molly?_"

Fred sniggers. "Hey, James, when you're in the hole, you should just stop digging!"

I get up and walk out of the portrait hole. I can't believe this. Even my cousins think I'm prudish.

I wander aimlessly as usual, thinking. Am I really that uptight? Am I really such a bore? Maybe I should get drunk at their next party and do a striptease on the table like the stupid slags they like that aren't so prudish and uptight and boring! My cheeks flame in a mix of anger and embarrassment.

I walk around a corner and promptly trip over someone's legs, outstretched on the ground. I right myself, turning to them. "Oi, watch the legs, will you?"

Malfoy scowls at me, then turns his face away quickly. But I notice something sparkling on his cheek. "Malfoy?"

"Go away, Weasley," he says, still not looking at me.

"Malfoy, are you _crying?_"

"What's it to you?" he growls, finally looking up.

I have never seen this side of him. His eyes soft and vulnerable and red-rimmed instead of steeled and arrogant. His nose red. A tear track on his cheek.

I can't fight with him right now. In fact I'm getting a ridiculous urge to comfort him. I tentatively sit beside him. "Malfoy, you're not crying because...you broke up with Dom, right? Or because she cheated on you?"

He scoffs. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Then what is it?"

"My- my mother," he whispers, looking down.

"What about her?" I ask.

"She has..." He swallows convulsively, crumpling a parchment in his hand. "She has Spelltropy."

I suck in a breath, shocked. Spelltropy is one of the most dangerous magical diseases ever. It is carried by magic, and spread through the use of magic on others. The survival rate is only around one in eighty.

I put my hand awkwardly on his shoulder. This is different - every other time one of has touched the other, it was with the intent of hurting or annoying them. I clear my throat. "I'm so sorry. How is your dad taking it?"

"He's in quarantine - they think he might be a carrier," Malfoy says quietly. "All they'll tell me about him is that he's in no state to write me a letter."

His shoulder tenses further under my hand.

"What stage is she in?" I ask.

"They didn't say," he shrugs miserably, trying to blink back another tear. "Probably stage two, as she mentioned in a letter last week that she had a cold."

Spelltropy progresses in stages. It has an incubation period of around a month where it lies dormant. Stage one is symptoms of a cold or flu, such as a stuffy head, sneezes, coughs, ad headaches. Stage two is severe magical venting - any magic in the person is expelled through the pores violently. Any magic used on the person to attempt healing at this point simply strengthens the disease. Stage three is slow organ failure. There is really no stage four.

"They won't even let me visit her," he sighs.

I squeeze his shoulder and then release it. "Well, you know you have a place to stay at the Burrow for holidays." It sounds feeble, but is all I know to say.

He laughs with no humour. "Normally you're the one grumbling about how I'm there every year."

"I know," I shrug. "But I can't antagonize you right now."

One side of his mouth quirks up. "I should cry more often."

"But then I wouldn't antagonize you at all," I point out.

"True," he admits. "I might actually miss that."

He's calmer now, so I shift away slightly and get up. "I'm, uh, going to go to my dorm now. Bye."

He smiles at me - an honest, sincere, even sweet smile, not a smirk to annoy me or a grin at a prank we've played. "Thanks for distracting me Weasley. You are good for something after all."

"Hmmm?" I say absently, staring at his smile still. "Oh. Erm. No problem."

I wander back up to my dorm, sort of muddled.

Malfoy smiled at me. _Malfoy_ smiled at me. Malfoy smiled at _me._ Malfoy_ smiled_ at me.

Nope. It sounds strange whichever way I put it. It kind of feels strange in my chest, too.

I enter the dorm room and I start to climb into my bed. Wait. Why is it warm...and...is that a foot?

"Aaahhhh!"

My scream is echoed by the person in my bed and several girls around the room as they wake up. Someone lights their wand and I see Lily looking up at me in terror. Her expression changes to very irritated as she sees it's me. "Rose! What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" I shout. "Why are you in my bed?"

I look around. "Roxanne! Rox, why are you in here?"

"Uh, this is my _dorm room_," she answers confusedly. "Why are _you_ in here?"

I look around. It dawns on me that all these annoyed girls are fourth years. "Er. Well. This is actually a funny story. Really funny. And, er, I'm going to let you know why it's so funny. I'm going to tell see-"

But I can't finish my explanation, because I'm hit with six pillows at the same time, and screeches of "OUT!"

"Fine, fine!" I mutter, blushing furiously as I retreat and sprint up to my own dorm. I check the plaque by the door to make sure this time before walking in.

So I don't like lying. Which is why I'll admit this in my head: Malfoy looked... good... with a smile.

But I'm never saying that out loud. Never ever.

**I know I told some of you in review replies I'd post on Thursday, but I lied. Somehow I don't think you'll mind too much. This was pre-poned (is that a word?) because Condiotti, a faithful reader and reviewer, has a birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! EAT CAKE!**

**Please look up Damien Rice, the artist from whom I borrowed the song quote. He is SO DIFFERENT (not that I don't like mainstream, but he is like Jason Mraz and KT Tunstall having a baby together). Also, thanks for SO MANY REVIEWS! We've hit the 50 mark! kisses! *MWAH* and keep 'em coming!**

**~Livelaughlove2597 xx**


	11. The Teenage Dictator: Outtake

**A/N: I'm baaack! Full explanations at the bottom. This is an outtake of the chapter The Teenage Dictator.**

* * *

_Bring me back to life _

_I just can't stand leaving you alone at night _

_It's too late to go _

_It has taken me forever just to try to know _

**Disclaimer: thank JKR for this Fanfic! Lyrics come from Stutter by Mariana's Trench (another excellent band!)**

* * *

Scorpius POV

Dom's tongue is currently halfway down my throat. I kiss her back as best as I can without gagging. Merlin, if this is what a blow job feels like to girls, I'll never pressure one into it like some of the other boys around.

We "made up" our fight last night. I say "made up" because we don't discuss the issues, we push them to the backs of our minds - or in this case, our throats.

I remind her of Transfiguration class after a bit and she sighs. "Scorpy-" I grit my teeth "-can't we just skip?"

"No." I'm adamant. "Weasley- your cousin- Rose will get ahead of me. I can't have that."

"What is it with you two," she grumbles, taking my somewhat reluctant hand and pulling me into class. We're late, and Professor Chang shoots us a glare. "How kind of you to join us, Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Weasley."

I let go of Dom's hand quickly and we rush to take seats behind Weasley. Weasley turns around to look at me, her head tilted to one side, and frowns slightly as if considering me.

"What?" I demand.

"I think coral lipstick suits your colour better than red," she says thoughtfully, staring at my mouth. I curse under my breath, covering my mouth with my hand and trying to covertly rub it off.

"Dom, you have to stop using lipstick," I tell her firmly. But she just shakes her head.

"I'll keep wearing the coral. She's right, it does suit you."

I glare at her before getting up to go sit next to Al. He glances over at me and shudders, most likely at the traces of lipstick still there, but smiles afterwards all the same.

"Dom," I say by way of explanation.

"Jasmine," he indicates a Gryffindor girl whose seat beside her is filled with one of her girlfriends. I think she might be in Weasley's dorm.

We look at each other and shrug helplessly. "Birds."

**-TTIHM-**

I walk into the Great Hall, looking for Dom as usual. But I see her with Higgins nearby. I'm not going to waste my lunch sitting with that prick! I walk over to the Slytherin table, where Al is sitting with Weasley across from him. Even Weasley's company is preferable to his. I slide in beside Al.

Weasley for some reason looks slightly panicked and looks behind her. Her eyes snag on Dom flirting with Josh and she turns back. Unless I'm imagining it, the look on her face is relieved. Which means one thing!

"I was right," I crow loudly. "It doesn't matter to you."

"What?" asks Al.

"Of course it matters," she says, ignoring Al. But something's off.

"Then why aren't you over there stopping her?" I demand. I know she understands me perfectly well, there's no need to even specify what we're talking about.

"Who?" asks Al. Again, I pay no attention to him, but wait for Weasley's answer.

"I'm not going to be the jealous possessive girlfriend," she says somewhat triumphantly. I can't help thinking that the reason she isn't that way is because she doesn't actually care. Because I imagine if she really did care about someone she could be quite the little lioness. I snort skeptically.

"_What?_" demands Al, more insistent this time.

I barely register that he's spoken. I'm just intent on tricking Weasley into confirming my theory. "Please. You always overreact. As if you could be that mature."

She glares at me and opens her mouth, probably to retaliate, but Al stands up, knocking over his goblet.

"FINE!" he shouts. "Don't tell me anything!"

We stare at him, shocked, for a couple of seconds. Al is generally so quiet that when he has such a moment he must be really frustrated. I gather my thoughts before Weasley does.

"Calm down mate," I say reassuringly. "We're just talking about my girlfriend and her boyfriend."

Al lets a great gust of air escape his lungs as he sits down nearly as violently as he got up, upsetting the gravy boat this time.

Weasley leans forward suddenly, her hazel eyes latching on to mine. "Tell me something then. Why don't you care what's going on?"

"Maybe I'm just in it for the snogging," I smirk. I know this will annoy her, as for some strange reason she hates the idea of me with Dom - possibly protectiveness. I love getting under her skin. Unfortunately, I neglect to think about what Al will do. Al groans again at the mention of us snogging and puts his head down on the table. Unfortunately it lands right in his rice, and conversation is halted for a while as we attempt to stop it from sticking in his hair.

"Even so," Weasley says as she picks rice out of Al's hair. "You could be losing your...er...snogging source."

I shrug. "I'll find another."

Anger flashes briefly across her face and I freeze. The realization of how that would have sounded snaps into my head in less than half a second - that her cousin is disposable. I might as well beg for the wrath of the Weasley males to descend upon me. Just as I finish this thought, she pulls at a grain of rice just a little too hard, and a handful of Al's hair comes off in her hand.

"OUCH!" Al screams. Weasley looks startled, and glances from his head to her hand as of she hadn't realized she was holding the hair. I can't help snickering at their expressions.

Al feels the top of his head gingerly and his eyes widen in horror when he encounters the patch. Weasley quickly put the hair behind her back as if that would stop Al from noticing.

"It doesn't look that bad," She says desperately, a blatant lie. I double over in my laughter and Al moans, covering it with his hands.

"I can fix it," she says, slightly panicky. "Al, move your hand."

"No!" he exclaims. "You must be mad!"

"I'll do it," I say, still laughing fit to kill. Al takes his hand off his head. I'm laughing as I cast the spell too. My voice and hand shake slightly because of it and there's a blinding flash of light accompanied with a loud bang.

I stop laughing immediately and stare at his head. Oh, Slytherin, what've I done?! Weasley steps back and tilts her head as if to get a better view of his hair, her mouth hanging open. All the students in the Hall seem to be holding their breath before erupting in laugher, craning their necks to look over. Al looks extremely apprehensive. "What did you do?"

I think about how best to phrase it, but before I can answer he catches his reflection in the side of a goblet and gasps. "You...turned...my...hair...purple?!"

"At least it's grown back," is my feeble response. He punches me in the stomach and runs out of the Hall. I hope he goes to the hospital wing.

I need someone to blame now, so I turn to Weasley. "This is all your fault!"

"Me?!" she exclaims. "You were the one to cast the spell!"

"Yes, but you made the bald spot!" I say loudly.

I know people are staring but Weasley is getting angry. I can't resist watching this.

"And I would have fixed it!" she shouts, standing up. "And properly!

Not that I'll ever admit this out loud, but she's sort of sexy when she's angry. Her hair crackles and her eyes flash and her cheeks flush. But of course that's a well kept secret.

"Oh, please!" I get to my feet as well and look down at her. Height gives me the advantage here. "You can't even pick a boyfriend. What makes you think you can handle spell casting?"

The whole Hall lets out a collective "oooh!"

Her mouth twists in anger and her hair literally looks alive. I don't realize she's pointing her wand at me until after she casts the spell and cute little demonic birds start pecking at my eyes.

"Who can't cast spells, Malfoy?" she asks deceptively innocently, then glides gracefully out of the hall.

Alright. Alright. Don't panic Scorpius, people are watching. You can handle this.

Holding my arms around my head, I take a deep breath and remember what my dad told me. Never let yourself be caught in a compromising situation that you can't handle. And I can handle this. I calm myself enough to pull out my wand and Vanish the birds. Then i sit down and keep eating as if I haven't just been punched, shouted at, and hexed, in that order. Gradually, the students lose interest and drift back to their previous conversations.

A girl I vaguely recognize looks concernedly at me. "Don't you want to go get those looked at?"

I touch my cheek and realize I have little scrapes all over it. I shrug.

"Are you sure?" she presses.

I grunt around a mouthful of food. She looks annoyed and turns away. Good. I can finally be left in peace.

**-TTIHM-**

I saw Weasley staring smugly at the scrapes on my face in Arithmancy. I had just scowled at her and gone to sit beside Al. The whole afternoon was a complete bore (after the debacle in the Great Hall, of course). I was very restless, and very thankful right now that class has ended. I grab my broom and walk outside, intending to do some flying. It calms me down and rids me of excess energy at the same time.

Then I see figures in red and gold on the pitch and scowl. Of course Gryffindor is practicing today! I scowl, before catching sight of Weasley looking at me. I smirk back as the Quaffle flies right past her through one of the hoops.

James flies over, and I can hear the sound of his voice from all the way over here. This is hilarious. Suddenly I get a brainwave.

I know just what will distract her so much she won't be able to keep her eyes on the Quaffle. Grinning to myself, I run inside and up to the Gryffindor common room, where I find Dom.

"Want to go on a walk?" I ask.

She beams at me. "Why, Scorpy, that would be wonderful."

Scorpy? Again?! Maybe I can kill her on the way back.

We walk out the side door leading to the pitch. I see Weasley's broom turn slightly and I smirk to myself as I pull Dom along towards the forest. Weasley makes a spectacular save, but I can feel her gaze boring a hole into me.

We enter the forest, and I find a spot that'll be in full view from Weasley's position, then immediately snog Dom, possibly with more passion than I ever have. She seems surprised but very pleased. We continue snogging until I hear Potter shout, "ROSE!"

I immediately pull my mouth away, in time to see Weasley fall off her broom. I lose sight of her as the trees interfere with my line of vision. Dom gasps. "Rose!"

She runs towards the Quidditch pitch. I follow, numbly. Did I cause that? Oh shit, if she's dead...

Because I might get a couple years in Azkaban. That would be inconvenient.

Potter is supporting Weasley's full weight, half dragging her to the door. Her face is white, except for a red lump at her temple. Oh Merlin, did she hit her head?

As soon as they get inside, Weasley collapses entirely. I break out into a run, pulling Dom along. Potter picks her limp body up bridal style as we run through the door. He scowls at me, then nods to Dom, but the worried cleft between his eyebrows doesn't go away.

"Wh-what happened?" asks Dom breathlessly. I mentally thank her for asking the question I'm too much of a coward to ask.

"She was looking off into the distance, dreaming or something," pipes up a Gryffindor team member. "The Quaffle hit her head and she fell."

My heart sinks into my shoes. It was my fault.

Oh Merlin. Now I'll have to apologize.

We follow the team to the Hospital Wing, where Potter deposits Weasley on a bed and one of the Chasers - Ariana, I think - explains to Madam Pomfrey what happened. Pomfrey shoos us all out, saying she has to have quiet to work.

The team members all begin arguing about whose fault it was, once we leave the room. I stay silent and stare at the flickering pattern of light and shadow the two nearby gaslights throw on the ceiling. Dom joins in the argument, attempting to convince them it was no one's fault. I know better.

Dom rejoins me against the wall after a bit, rubbing my arm. "You don't have to stay if you need to go, really."

I don't look at her. "Yeah, I- that's fine, I can stay."

She pats my arm once more and returns to the debate. I continue staring at the ceiling. One of the lights casting the lights and shadows suddenly goes out and I notice how much bleaker the flickering pattern looks with only one light. Incomplete.

Eventually Pomfrey pokes her head around the door and ushers us in, holding a finger to her lips. Twining her hand with mine, Dom pulls me over to the side of the bed.

Weasley is still unconscious, but her colour has changed from the pallor of a corpse to her usual paleness. Her hair is spread out on the pillow, a bandage is taped to her temple and she's smiling slightly. Her eyelashes flutter and then close again, I know she's awake.

"Rose, I know you're awake!" Dom says.

Weasley opens one eye, squinting at Dom through it. "You're very sensitive."

"You moved," Dom shrugs. Weasley opens both eyes fully and looks around her at the people surrounding her bed. Her eyes widen slightly when she sees me. I have to fight to keep the guilt off my face - I don't know where all this emotion is coming from, and that's a problem. I struggle to keep my face looking bored.

"Yes, she's awake," I comment. "Can I go now?"

"No, stay," Dom tells me.

"No, go," Weasley says dismissively. But I feel compelled to stay, and Dom's nails digging into my arm is not a large part of it.

Weasley sits up gingerly and holds herself very still. Lily reaches over and hugs her. "Rose, I'm so glad you're alright!"

"Don't be daydreaming next time," James scolds, attempting to sound stern but failing, he obviously cares a lot for his cousin. Weasley smiles at him.

I feel another of those strange emotional rushes - I wish I had a family like this, that would stand by me and protect me, sometimes to the point of being annoying. If I had a concussion, there would probably be a maximum of three people standing around my bed like this: Father, Mum, and Al. While I have quite a few friends, I don't have many that count as family.

Madam Pomfrey walks in. "You're fine to leave, if you'd like."

"Thank you so much," Weasley says fervently, subconsciously touching her temple.

"You're welcome," she replies. "Just lucky you didn't break anything. But take this potion, you might have a headache tomorrow." She hands Weasley a little brown flask before going back to her office.

The entire clan heads down to supper, with me trailing behind. They disperse at the Entrance Hall, with Weasley heading over to the Gryffindor table as usual and Dom towing me along. I realize Higgins tagged along at some point on the way down here, which completely ruins my mood. Not that it was that great to begin with. He's been taking care of Weasley like she's an invalid, and I can tell by the way her lips are set that she isn't exactly enjoying it.

He takes a forkful of food from her plate and I roll my eyes - hasn't he enough on his already? But no, it's not for him. He lifts it and points it at Weasley's mouth... Oh, for the love of Merlin! He's feeding her!

Horror flashes across her face as he presses the fork to her lips. She grudgingly opens and lets him feed her, then grimaces after swallowing. Salazar's serpents, this is disgusting!

Dom is staring at them longingly, casting glances at me every so often. I steadfastly ignore.

"Open wide," Higgins prompts Weasley. She does, after giving him a glare that should make him shrivel. I can't help but snicker.

"Open wide, Rosie, here comes the broom! And would the ickle baby wike some stwained cawwots and a bottle?" I mock him.

Weasley's lips twitch up ever so slightly. She snatches the fork from Higgins, flushing. Higgins looks extremely offended, as if I'd just prodded him with that fork. I smirk back, and he glares at me.

Weasley's brother walks past. "Hey Rosie, your muscles are tense. You should breathe deeply and check your chakras. Oh, I have an idea! You could learn the proper way to do that at those yoga lessons I'm putting up, just two Sickles! Want to sign up?"

Weasley shakes her head, rolling her eyes. I can't help laughing at the expression on her face. Something hits my leg under the table, and I laugh and cough at the same time, choking on a potato.

Dom thumps me on the back. I wish she would stop! Merlin's balls, I can't breathe!

I cough one last time and the potato flies out, hitting Higgins square in the face. I can't help but feel slightly satisfied. Higgins the prude looks completely revolted. I start chuckling, then laughing louder, and Dom joins in. Weasley stays straight faced for as long as possible, then collapses into giggles as well. Higgins gets that stabbed-with-a-fork look again, sticks his nose up and leaves.

Good riddance!

"You can thank me now," I smirk at Weasley.

Weasley's jaw drops. "Why the hell would I need to thank you?"

"I drove him off for you," I shrug.

Weasley opens her mouth, then shuts it again, like a redheaded goldfish. I smirk - it's obvious she's confused about what to say. Dom jumps in. "Why would she want to drive him off? He was being so wonderful!"

I snort loudly. "Because he was mollycoddling and bloody spoon-feeding her like a baby?"

"I would love that," Dom sighs. "You never do anything like that for me..."

"And I'm not going to, either," I retort. Better to set things straight now if she's getting ideas. That's not happening.

"I wish you would," Dom sighs, laying her head on my arm.

"Maybe you should date Josh, then," I suggest, raising an eyebrow and moving my arm. Her head drops and hits the table. She sits up very straight, looking extremely offended.

"Maybe I will, then!" she exclaims angrily.

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Dom huffs and stomps out. I continue eating, Weasley staring at me in utter shock.

"What?" I ask after swallowing.

"She just broke up with you, and you don't care?" she exclaims. She has the wrong idea here if she thinks I actually give a rat's fart.

"She'll come around," I sigh somewhat regretfully, because it would make things damn easier if she didn't.

Weasley throws me a look of what could almost be concern, then shrugs and keeps eating. She quickly clears her plate and stands up to go.

"Leaving already?" I ask. "I hope it's not to go chasing after your pansy of a boyfriend."

"What does it matter to you where I go?" she demands suspiciously.

"It doesn't," I shrug. Of course it doesn't - why would I care? "But if it did I'd tell you not to waste your time."

"You did tell me not to," she frowns confusedly.

"No I didn't." Is she imagining things?

"Yes, you did!" she shouts, throwing her hands up in the air, her hair beginning to crackle again. I smirk. I can always get under her skin, all I have to do is remain calm.

"No," i tell her placidly. "If you recall my previous words, I think you'll find they were "I hope it's not to go chasing after your pansy of a boyfriend" and that implies distant disapproval."

"Distantly disapprove this, Malfoy," she snarls at me, flipping me the bird. I clutch at my chest dramatically, and she rolls her eyes at me before walking off. I chuckle to myself, then stop, realizing I probably look like I've gone mad.

I'll most likely never admit this, but school would be pretty boring without Weasley around to liven things up a little.

**-TTIHM-**

I enter the Gryffindor common room, spotting Weasley on an armchair. She instantly looks annoyed at the sight of me, and I stifle my smirk before pulling Dom into a kiss. Out of the corner of my eye I see Weasley leave the room and pull away from Dom.

"You're not very nice to Rose, by the way," Dom says suddenly.

I frown at her. "What are you talking about? I'm very nice to her."

She just looks at me.

"What? I am!"

She looks some more.

"So I think she has shitty taste in boys, yeah," I defend myself. "Other than that I'm an utter gentleman."

Dom smacks my arm. "She does not have shitty taste in boys!"

"I don't understand how she can stand that pansy," I grimace. "Doesn't she feel claustrophobic?"

"Of course not!" Dom gasps, so dramatically that Marcus Finnigan pops his head out of the staircase leading to the boys' dorm. "She feels loved! Every girl wants a boy like that, including me," she finishes, with a glance at me.

I roll my eyes and hold up my hands. "Well don't expect that rubbish from me. I believe in separating the roles of babysitter and boyfriend, so if you want someone spoon-feeding you, look to someone else."

I leave the common room before Dom can get another word out. Really, what does she think I am? A bloody nanny? I shudder.

I hear Higgins' voice coming from the dark third floor corridor, so naturally I pause by the suit of armour beside the entrance. He sounds infuriatingly smug, as usual.

"...you just have to make sure you don't speak to Malfoy, but that should be easy," I hear him saying, and my eyes widen. "Because I don't like the way he looks at you. I'd really prefer you don't talk to any boys, other than the ones you're related to, and me, of course, but I'll be realistic."

I hear a familiar, muted snort, and realise he's talking to Weasley! I stifle a laugh, grinning ear to ear. Now Weasley will go out of her way to talk to me - I know her, she always does the opposite of what she's told to on principle - which will annoy Josh, and as she talks to me I'll annoy her. This is a win-win situation!

"Secondly, be beside me at all times."

Oh, this is excellent. She's going to eat him, spit him out, and go on about her day.

"Thirdly, you have to quit the Quidditch team - your team beat ours last year, mostly because you were Keeper, and we want a turn. I promise next year I'll quit so you can have a turn to win."

Quidditch doesn't work like that, you idiot, I howl in my head.

"And lastly, when we get married, I'd like to choose the wedding colours. That's all. Love you. Bye!"

I roll my eyes so much they probably look into the back of my head for a second. Then I hear his footsteps coming towards me, so I quickly duck behind the armour as he strides past, whistling. As soon as he's out of sight, I walk into the corridor, slow clapping. Weasley's mouth is hanging open, but as soon as she sees me she saps it shut and scowls. "Merlin's arse, Malfoy, why are you following me around?!"

"Merlin's arse doesn't have much to do with it," I smirk, staying calm to get her even more angry. "This just provides constant entertainment. It's too bad I didn't have time to go down to the kitchens and have some popcorn made for me."

"Shouldn't you be off doing something highly inappropriate with my cousin right now?" she snaps, crossing her arms.

"This is more fun," I shrug and grin.

"Really?" she asks, raising one eyebrow.

"When she's angry, yes," I sigh.

She raises her eyebrow further. "Angry?"

Shite I didn't mean to let her know that. "None of your bloody business. Aren't you not supposed to be talking to me, anyway?"

"That's the only reason I am," she tells me. I laugh - exactly what I predicted.

"You're different," I chuckle.

"Glad you figured it out," she mutters.

"One month," I add. Or less, before she dumps his sorry arse. I'm surprised she's even put up with him for this long.

She frowns slightly, but realizes I'm talking about her doomed relationship.. "Not a chance."

"You're right," he agrees. "Maybe we should lower it to two weeks."

She sighs in a defeated way, but won't admit in words that I'm right - I can see it in the set of her mouth. She turns away from me and starts walking downstairs. I follow her, I have nothing better to do.

"Where are you going?" I ask curiously. This is the opposite direction to Gryffindor tower.

"To Timbuctoo," she says sarcastically. I frantically rack my brains as to what Timbuctoo is so as not to appear stupid.

"Look," Weasley says suddenly, "either go make up with Dom or go break up with her, just leave me alone."

"That's not nice," I smirk.

"Your mother isn't nice," she says, half under her breath. "Go away!"

"I like it here," I smirk.

"Merlin, Malfoy," she growls. "Get a life!"

"Get a better boyfriend, then we'll see," I retort quickly.

"What is with that boyfriend obsession?" she demands.

"I don't like him," I shrug.

"I don't like you," she reminds me, "yet I put up with you going out with my cousin."

"But you're not my cousin," I blurt. As soon as I've said it I wish I could cover my mouth. That is not what I meant to say!

"What does that have to do with anything?" she shouts, throwing her hands up.

"It has everything to do with it," I mutter.

What is wrong with me?! I internally lecture myself on controlling my tongue.

"I'm glad we're not related too," she snaps. "You drive me crazy enough as it is."

Oh, good. We're back to normal.

"Thanks," I grin.

"You're like a pendulum," she observes.

"Hmm?"

"You swing back and forth so much!"

You'd think with me snogging her cousin and all she'd know I was into witches, but some people are extraordinarily dense, I suppose. "No, I've always been straight. Is that not obvious?"

"Not that, you imbecile," she rolls her eyes. "Your moods!"

"And now that I know you hate it, I'll do it that much more." I dodge her slap, and her hand hits the stone bannister.

"OW!" she screams.

I start laughing again. "It is just not your day!"

"You broke my hand!" she shouts.

"No, _you_ broke it," I correct her. "And I highly doubt it's broken."

"You wouldn't care either way!" she snarls, pressing it tightly to her chest.

I glance at her hand. "No, I'm fairly sure it's fine."

"Shut UP! Just shut up! This is so unfair!"

"How exactly is it unfair?" I chuckle.

"How come you couldn't break your hand?" she whines. "How come it had to be me?"

"Firstly, because you tried to hit me. If you hadn't, you'd be fine. Secondly, I doubt it's broken, as I said before. Thirdly, I think you should go to bed. You're not exactly making sense," I smirk, because I know nothing annoys her more than not being taken seriously.

Sure enough, she gets that stubborn look in her eye. "I'm making perfect sense. You're not making sense. And you don't care if it's broken or not!"

She trips over a protruding bit of the banister suddenly and scowls down at it. "Who put that there?"

I roll my eyes, slightly concerned. "Go back up to your dorm, Weasley."

"No!"

"You're so stubborn," I sigh. "What do people do with you?"

"They leave me alone!"

"That may not be safe right now," I mutter, eyeing the hand cradled against her chest as well as the foot she puts next to no weight on.

"I was fine until you came along!" she insists stubbornly.

She's going to actually get hurt at some point, and after this afternoon I can't let that happen again. So I take hold of her elbow and start pulling her towards the Gryffindor common room. "Come on, Weasley."

"Let go of me!" She pulls her arm lightly, to give me the hint to let it go, but I ignore it.

"I swear, Malfoy, if you don't let go I'll - I'll -" she threatens.

"You'll what?" I demand, looking down at her. "Call your pansy - sorry, boyfriend - on me? Yeah, I'm terrified." There's not much else she can do; she's probably two thirds my height and half my weight (although her nails are quite sharp, as I know from experience).

We reach the Fat Lady. Weasley stands stubbornly silent, so I sigh and give the password. "Grouch."

"I am not!" grumbles the Fat Lady irritably before swinging open.

Weasley stands beside me with her arms crossed until I raise my eyebrows at her. She scowls and climbs through the portrait hole, then slams the portrait in my face, which makes me chuckle.

"Well really!" huffs the Fat Lady, readjusting her hat. "She is..."

"Something," I agree, grinning, before turning around and heading down towards the dungeons.

Maybe it should concern me that I enjoy the company of my enemy more than my supposed girlfriend, but at this point I really couldn't care less.

* * *

**A/N: Please don't shoot me! I love you guys for all your concerned reviews, it's just that RL has been insane, to put it mildly. I just turned 16, so go easy on me :D I swear I'll do my best to update once a month minimum! I hope this extra-long chapter makes up for the extra-long update time. You'll be happy to know I've already started on the next chapter!**

**Keep the requests for chapters from Scorp's POV coming! I love writing those!**

** Once again, love and hugs to everyone who has stuck around as well as new readers!**

**Je t'aime :* **

**Meg xx**


	12. Boy Problems (or Boys Problems)

**_If you'd let me in,_**

**_Here's what I'd do_**

**_I'll take care of you_**

**_I've loved and I've lost_**

**_~Take Care - Drake feat. Rihanna_**

**_Disclaimer: anything you recognize, I don't own._**

Rose POV

"Oof!"

Something very heavy has landed on my middle and interrupted my deep sleep. I crack open one eye to see Dom sitting on my stomach, staring down at me with a slightly maniacal expression.

"Whaaat," I moan.

"Rose, you're late! It's nearly half past eight!" she shouts.

Horrified, I look at my clock. "Oh Merlin!"

"So wake UP!" she shouts again, bouncing.

"And that's my bladder," I wince, pushing her off and running to the bathroom while pulling off my nightclothes. She tosses my robes in after me. Somehow I manage to get dressed and to the common room in four minutes. It's almost empty - even Dom ran downstairs ahead of me.

I'm famished! Hopefully I can grab a piece of toast or a muffin. I sprint down the stairs and collide into someone as I'm rounding the corner into the entrance hall. They catch me and steady me. I look up to apologize and thank them and-

Oh. Of course. It's Malfoy.

His eyes still look slightly red and puffy, but he appears to be acting overly arrogant to cover it up. "In a hurry, are we?"

I ignore this and speak in a lower tone. "How is she? How are you?"

Something flashes across his face, only to be masked by a scowl. "Don't bring it up."

He lets go of me and strides off. I stare after him, affronted. Why, that little prick. All boys are the same.

I run into the Great Hall and grab a muffin. My eyes sting and water slightly. I must have something in them. I rub at them with one hand, holding the muffin in the other, as I make my way to Charms.

We're learning Incendio. Mum already showed me this one, so once I demonstrate it I'm free to do as I please. Malfoy, of course, also gets it perfectly the first time. He's right across the room from me, but won't look up.

Fine. He can be like that. It's not like it matters. I cast Incendio on my newspaper rather enthusiastically and nearby newspapers catch as well. Al, who was bending over his newspaper to make sure it wasn't "faulty," has singed his eyebrows once again. I do feel bad, so I offer to accompany him to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey takes one look at Al and sighs, leading him over to one end of the wing. My eyes wander around as she fixes him up and land on a thick tome left by one of the beds.

I walk over and take a closer look at it. "Magical Diseases, Descriptions, and Cures." Hmm... I wonder...

I flip to the index and find what I'm looking for, then turn to page 525 and begin reading.

"Spelltropy. Cause thought to be a buildup of toxins in the magic reserves of the witch or wizard, toxins from recent increase in Muggle pollution. First case 1925 AD. Transmitted through the use of magic by a carrier."

I skip the symptoms and stages sections, as I know about those already, and read the cures section.

"Spelltropy is fatal. No complete cure has been found yet. However, victims may be suspended between stages two and three for up to a month through the use of tinctures made from St. John's-wort and verbena."

I frown, replacing the book. No cure at all? I feel sorry for Malfoy in spite of myself.

And yet, something nags at the back of mind, on the tip of my tongue, but refuses to materialize fully. Toxins... I let it sit, hoping it will come to me fully later.

Al walks over to me, eyebrows intact, thanking Madam Pomfrey over his shoulder. "I'll see you soon, Madam Pomfrey!"

"I've no doubt," she says wryly.

I stay silent on the way back to the Charms classroom. Al nudges me. "What is it Rosie?"

"Just thinking," I answer.

"I hear you have detention tonight with Malfoy," he mentions.

I slap my forehead. "Oh, bollocks. I forgot. That's going to be oh so fun."

"You should give him a chance Rose," says Al, his vivid green eyes piercing through his glasses.

"I have," I retort. "He was the one who started the hostilities."

Al sighs. "It doesn't have to be hostile. You two are a lot alike, you know."

"Don't say that," I hiss. I would never accept someone's help and comfort one day and then snub them the next.

"It's true," Al argues. "You're both very intelligent, think independently, and are prideful. You love competition and neither of you will let anyone push you around. The two of you have a lot in common."

I can't really find a response to that so I fume silently until we reach the classroom. As we enter, I see Malfoy watching us. He accidentally makes eye contact with me, then looks away quickly.

Thank Merlin, Easter is in a week. I get to be away from him during that time. We always spend Easter week at the Burrow.

Aunt Hannah - sorry, Professor Abbott - reminds Malfoy and me when class is over about our detention that night with her. Malfoy just nods curtly and sweeps out of the room without so much as a glance at me. I grit my teeth, replying more politely to Aunt Ha- Professor Abbott before leaving for Potions myself.

I slump into the seat beside Dom in Potions, noting the box of sugared pineapple on Slughorn's desk and sighing to myself. It is going to be a long class.

-TTIHM-

At the end of the hour, my fingers are striped with ink and I have noughts and crosses swimming before my eyes from my games with Dom. I have to admit Malfoy is more fun to play that with than Dom, who nearly always loses.

I pull a chicken drumstick off the platter onto my plate at lunch, wondering where the ferret is. Then I remember - he won't sit at the Gryffindor table anymore; he and Dom are broken up. He must be at the Slytherin table with Al.

"How are you so good at noughts and crosses?!" exclaims Dom in despair, drawing me out of my thoughts. Lily takes a look at our scrap of parchment and sniggers at the extreme difference in the score.

I shrug. "Some people are meant for greatness."

"In what? Noughts and crosses?" Dom scoffs.

"As opposed to what?" chuckles Lily. "Greatness in being able to sniff out a shoe store within two miles of one? Greatness in having the most meaningless flings? Greatness in-"

"You," says Dom, pointing her fork at Lily, "shut up."

"That's not very nice." Al slides in beside Lily across the table.

"Sorry, _Dad_," mutters Dom, rolling her eyes.

"Are you not sitting with Scorpius, Al?" Lily asks. I silently thank her for asking the question I wanted to.

Al swallows his bite, then frowns. "No, I don't know where he is, actually. He ran off somewhere after Potions without telling me if he was coming to eat at all."

Dom shrugs. "He could be beating up Josh."

Just then, Josh walks up warily. Al glares at him, because he's made a move on not one, but two Weasley girls and all the Weasley-Potter boys consider it their bounden duties to protect our virtues. For my part I ignore Josh completely.

"Can I have a word?" Josh asks Dom. I'm surprised to see her get up and follow him out of the Hall without a word, even blushing slightly.

Although... if Malfoy's not here eating lunch, if he's not giving Josh hell... where _is_ he?!

No! I shouldn't worry about him. I tried to comfort him last night which he obviously didn't appreciate, so I don't need to try again. I'm not obligated to.

I try to pay attention to the conversation between Al and Lily, but they could be talking about the gestating habits of Flobberworms for all I'm able to hear. My stomach curls into a ball, and I've lost my appetite. I abandon my chicken and push myself up from the table.

"Where are you going?" asks Al.

"I don't feel well," I say, which isn't a lie.

"Rose, don't do it," warns Lily.

"What?" I gasp. How does she know what I'm doing?!

"Don't spy on Dom and Josh," she says knowingly.

I feel a rush of relief. "Oh, I wasn't going to."

"Right, and I was going to leave the last drumstick for Lil," scoffs Al, grabbing it.

"No, I'm, er, on my period," I lie. Lily nods in sympathy while Al moans and covers his ears, rocking back and forth. I roll my eyes at him before leaving the Hall.

Where could he be? If I was an annoying teenage boy, who was worried sick about his mother, where would I go?

I run to the Room of Requirement, muttering "Show me if Scorpius Malfoy is in here" as I run past it. When the door appears, it opens on an absolutely empty room. I sigh, closing the door and willing it to disappear.

I decide to try the kitchens, thinking perhaps he wanted to pick up some food and take it somewhere to eat by himself. When I reach the painting, I tickle the pear.

The elves rush to the portrait as soon as it opens, ushering me in and talking all at once, asking what I'd like to eat, what I'd like to drink, if my mother was all right. Clearly they remember the S.P.E.W. campaign of years past.

"No thank you, and she is doing well," I say, forcing a smile. "Has Master Malfoy been down here in the past hour?"

One of the elves, wearing a pink tablecloth like a toga, bows low to the floor. "No miss, Tara has not seen Master Malfoy. A pity, for Tara thinks Master Malfoy is quite handsome, and very nice to Tara." She covers her mouth and the tips of her ears turn pink as she realizes what she's just said.

I roll my eyes inwardly. Even the sodding house-elves hanker after him. I must be the only straight female not attracted to him. "Thank you anyway, Tara."

Once out in the corridor, I consider my options, biting my lip. It's likely he went flying; he's mentioned to Al before that it relaxes him. I'll have the best chance of seeing him from the Astronomy Tower.

I climb the tight spiral staircase leading up to the tower. Just as I reach the top, someone's fist smashes into the wood and glass structure surrounding the top of the stairs right by my face, splintering the wood and shattering the glass. I jump back in surprise and look up to see who it is.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Weasley?" demands Malfoy.

His tone angers me to the point where I blurt the first thing to enter my head. "I was looking for you, you ungrateful prick, so you might have the decency not to try and punch me!"

"You don't have to bloody coddle me," he snarls, his eyes flashing silver-dark-silver. "I'm not a fucking baby!"

I climb up the few stairs left so I'm face to face with him, more or less. "I'm not coddling you, I'm trying to be kind, even though you don't seem to care!"

"I don't need your pity," he growls.

"I'm not pitying you," I laugh without humour. "If I was, do you think I'd shout at you?"

He rakes his hand through his hair. His knuckles are torn and bloody. "I don't know how you think! I never understand your motives half the time anyway!"

"You're one to talk!" I exclaim.

"I do most things for a clear cut reason," he tells me.

I arch an eyebrow. "Really? Because that's not what I see."

We stare each other down for a few moments.

"Why did you even come here?" he asks in a low voice, breaking the eye contact.

I give him an honest answer before turning to go. "I don't know."

I take a couple of steps down before he speaks. "Weasley."

I stop, but don't look up.

His voice softens slightly. "Rose."

Surprised, I look at him. He swallows. "I wasn't trying to punch you."

I look at the structure protecting the staircase and notice it's not only broken where he punched as I was coming up, but all around. I realize why his knuckles are so bloody. Not trusting my voice, I nod slightly before quickly climbing down.

-TTIHM-

Herbology and Divination pass in a blur. Before I know it, it's time for supper, where Malfoy actually shows up, sitting with Al at the Slytherin table. His knuckles aren't bloody anymore, but are covered with scrapes and bruises that no one else seems to notice.

I don't quite know what to make of our conversation this afternoon, if it could even be labelled a conversation. One thing is certain, detention will be awkward.

I sit with Lily, Dom, Roxie, and Ella. James is sneaking glances at Ella from down the table. You'd think he'd understand that chasing after a girl he'd already stood up and who'd given him a black eye and itchy armpits would be dangerous at best and fatal at worst, but no. The boy has a death wish.

Noticing the time, a quarter to eight, I finish my food and walk off towards the Charms classroom. Professor Abbott is passionate about punctuality and if I'm late I'll probably end up with a whole extra week of detention. No one needs that!

The classroom is empty, so I sit in a seat near the front and wait for the others to arrive. Around five to eight, Malfoy walks in. He nods at me uncomfortably and settles two seats away from me, refusing to make eye contact. I suppose I understand now - showing his emotions bothers him later on. I just nod back and we sit in a charged silence until Professor Abbott walks in at eight on the dot. She frowns confusedly.

"There was supposed to be another student here," she says, adding, "No matter. He'll just have detention for an extra week." I marvel at my powers of prediction.

She walks to a door at the side of the classroom and unlocks it. "You'll be clearing up the storage closet. In here please."

Malfoy walks in and I follow. Immediately, I know that I'm in trouble. I hate enclosed spaces. It comes from when I was a child, around five. We were all visiting a farm in Dorset (we all meaning the entire Weasley-Potter clan), so naturally I ran all over the place on the first day. When I was leaning over a well to try and see down to the other side of the world I fell in. Well, guess what? Wells_ don't _lead to the other side of the world. I landed with a splash in icy cold water. Luckily I'd always been a good swimmer so I was able to tread for quite a while. I kept shouting for help but my voice just seemed to echo back to me. Eventually I ran out of energy and just floated on top of the water. Night fell and I was starting to believe I'd stay in there forever when I heard people yelling my name. I had a sudden burst of energy and yelled back. Soon they let down a rope to pull me up exhausted but otherwise unharmed. Except psychologically, that is. To this day I've hated small spaces.

That horrendous experience flashes through my head as I step into the storage room and I have to fight not to hyperventilate. I look around desperately for something bright and find only the back of Malfoy's head, glowing somewhere between silver and gold in the dark. I focus on it as we walk further in, taking long, deep breaths.

Once my breathing calms and my heart slows I begin to notice things around me. The room isn't actually as narrow as it seems - it is made much narrower by the stacks of cushions lining the walls. I also realize I'm walking ankle deep in feathers, probably from burst cushions over the years. Malfoy stops abruptly and I nearly walk right into his back, but luckily stop myself. I peer around him to see fallen stacks of cushions blocking the room (which I now realize is more like a passage, it stretches so far I can't see the end).

Aunt Hannah's voice comes from behind me, hardly echoing because of the cushions lining the walls. "As you can see, these cushions must be restacked. The feathers also need clearing. Beyond the cushions are shelves of goblets; I'll need you to clear out the cracked ones. Beyond the goblets are rolls of parchment, which need reorganizing, along with quills and ink. You need to remove the bent, broken and worn quills, and clean up any spilled ink or broken bottles. Last are old textbooks. Some of their pages are falling out and the covers are coming off. I'd like you to repair those. That should be all."

"Merlin," Malfoy mutters under his breath, gazing down the passage. Professor's sharp ears catch that.

"Yes, it will most likely take you a week. These are the consequences for using magic in the hallways." Her voice has a warning note in it. Then she walks out of the passage. "I will be back in a few hours to check on you."

A few hours?! Oh, bollocks.

I clear my throat awkwardly and look at Malfoy. "I'll stack the cushions?" It comes out like a question.

He shrugs. "I'll clear the feathers, then."

I have to step around him to get to the cushions. I curse myself for not thinking before blurting the first words to come into my head. Gritting my teeth, I maneuver around him, clenching my fists when our sides brush.

I turn my attention to the fallen cushions and begin levitating them into stacks. Behind me Malfoy Vanishes the feathers on the floor. We work for about ten minutes before Professor Abbott shows up again.

"So, the third person showed up. Better late than never, I suppose." She steps aside and Josh walks in, all coolly, as if he hadn't tried to make a fool of me just a few days ago.

All right. That seals it without a doubt. Someone is plotting to make my life as miserable as possible.

Professor looks from Malfoy to me. "Well, I trust that the two of you will explain Mr. Higgins' task to him." With that, she leaves us.

"So what do I have to do?" Josh asks, sounding almost bored.

"You can Vanish feathers along with Malfoy," I quickly tell him.

Malfoy scowls at me, then turns it on him. "No, you can pile cushions with Weasley."

"I'll go with Rose," Josh says, avoiding Malfoy's glare. He edges around Malfoy and makes his way over to me. "So, how do we stack these?"

"Levitate them," I sigh, resigned, demonstrating.

Suddenly, he leans in closer, whispering in my ear, "You know, Rosie, I'm willing to give you and me another shot."

I look at him incredulously. "Excuse me, but were you dropped on your head as an infant?"

At this, Malfoy looks over curiously, but I ignore him. Josh smirks. "I'll see you change your mind yet."

"Yeah," I mutter. "And the Cannons will win this year. Good luck."

Malfoy accidentally Vanishes three cushions while staring, then drops his gaze guiltily.

I levitate a cushion, aiming for the top of a stack. I have to lean back to aim my wand at it, and it's rather difficult. Suddenly I hear a smug "Here, I'll help" and the next thing I know, Josh has grabbed my arse and is trying to pick me up. Before he can actually get me off the ground, I spin around, kicking him hard in the shin as I go, and end up with my wand right between his eyebrows.

"If you ever, ever do that again," I snarl, "I will hex your hands off. Then I will make sure you are never able to have children. Do I make myself clear?"

Before Josh can respond, I hear a roar of laughter behind me. Wonderful. Malfoy seems to have found his voice and his sense of humour again.

-TTIHM-

Thanks to my threat, Josh had stayed away from me the entire time we were working. Malfoy pretty much kept up a running chuckle and it took everything I had not to kick him as well.

Aunt Hannah appears at the doorway. About time. "I see you've worked hard today. Good work. I'll see you three here, tomorrow night, same time."

Malfoy, Josh and I exit the classrom awkwardly without speaking. Suddenly, mindless of Malfoy's presence just two feet away, Josh turns to me. "I meant what i said before, Rose."

"I meant what I said before, too," I reort. "You know, the thing about hexing your bollocks off."

"If he has any," Malfoy mutters. We look over at him; he just shrugs."What? My dad always told me to speak my mind."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rose," says Josh, scowling at Malfoy. "I know you'll be more sensible tomorrow."

"Don't count on it," calls Malfoy after him. I frown.

"What?" he demands of me. "You can't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing!"

"Oh, are you talking to me now?" I ask acidly. "I'm sorry, I must have missed the memo."

He looks uncomfortable. "Look, I know I was a git today-"

"Oh, what an epiphany-"

"But then I always am," he finishes, then frowns. "No, that's not what I mean. I mean-"

"Give it up Malfoy," I sigh, walking away. He keeps pace with me, but doesn't talk until we're halfway up the stairs.

"I'm sorry," he mutters. "But - ugh - I hate _feelings - _they're just too _messy_."

We stop outside the Gryffindor common room and he turns me by the shoulder to face him. "I know you were trying to help, but I-" he scratches his head awkwardly. "I didn't want pity."

I just nod.

"Also, if you ever, _ever_ tell anyone you saw me cry, I'll tell Josh you want him back but are too shy to admit it."

"I'll kill you."

"I'd like to see you try."

I kick him in the shin before climbing through the portrait hole as he laughs.

**A/N: *hides behind Scorp* only a month and a half. I was almost honest. Love you all for the reviews and faves and alerts, PLEASE keep them up!**

**Also, my best friend and late night bitching buddy Carriebear3000 has posted a story called The Lions Roar, a Chronicles of Narnia fic, which I've beta'ed! (Is that how you spell it?) I encourage everyone to go read and give her feedback!**

**There's this little box down there...you could just go fill it in for me ;)**

**~Meg xx**


	13. Eggs, Eggheads and Miracle Cures

_I will be the answer, at the end of the line_

_I will be there for you, why end, take the time_

_In the burning of uncertainty, I will be your solid ground_

_I will hold the balance, when you can't look down_

_~Answer - Sarah McLachlan_

**Disclaimer: It's all JKR's. I don't infringe, just spoof and goof here and there. I advise you to listen to Answer, by Sarah McLachlan, while reading - it sets the mood for most of it and fits it so well!**

_Easter Sunday at the Burrow _

"Alright dears!" Nana Molly shouts over the chatter of the entire Weasley-Potter clan. "Your Grandad and I have hidden the eggs around the house and garden this morning while the lot of you were snoring away! You know the rules: no pushing, hitting, hair-pulling, and even for those who are seventeen-" here she turns to glare at Ted and Vic "-no magic. Off you go!"

Naturally, there's a mad scramble to get around the kitchen table, and poor Roxie is almost trampled in the process. Aunt Ginny shoves James into a table to stop him from stepping on Roxie's face. I stay put until the kitchen has calmed down. My family, being the impulsive hotheads they are, have all gone to the garden without even checking the other rooms. So I go to the nice, quiet, empty sitting room and immediately find two eggs on the mantle. I put them in the basket I decorated as a child and have used for the annual Easter egg hunts here ever since. I hear everyone else arguing to get inside the narrow kitchen door and smile to myself as I head upstairs. I find an egg hidden behind the landing door and another balanced on the railing.

"Hey!" I head Fred shout from downstairs. "Nana always hides eggs in the sitting room! Why aren't there any?"

I giggle to myself quietly and move up another level where I find three eggs behind some boxes of Uncle George's products. I hear them all stampeding up the first flight of stairs and move up one more floor, where I find quite a few eggs hidden in cupboards.

"Nana hasn't hidden eggs anywhere except the garden!" yells an exasperated James from below.

I open the attic door as silently as I can and climb up, while they stomp up to the second flight of stairs. Inside the attic, I find several eggs hidden on rafters, in between beams, and the crowning glory: one large chocolate bunny and a chocolate chicken behind the ghoul, grunting in an armchair. The ghoul is grunting, that is, not the chocolate.

"WHAT IS THIS?! NO EGGS!" shout about five people somewhere below me before thundering up another flight of stairs.

"Wait a minute..." comes Lily's voice from below me. "The attic door is open. Someone has been up here."

"Impossible," argues Teddy. "We're all hunting together, aren't we?"

There's silence for about ten seconds, before they simultaneously shout "ROSE!"

**-TTIHM-**

I eat my chocolate while all my cousins crowd around me, staring wistfully at it.

"Rosie-" James begins, but I cut him off. "Nope."

"I have an idea!" Fred says. "You know Nana will make us clean up the remains of Easter dinner on Monday morning. How about you give us the chicken to split, and we do your chores for you?"

The rest of them agree heartily. I consider it. I do need to go shopping.

"Alright," I agree. "Here, catch!"

I toss the chicken up in the air and they pounce on it, climbing over each other and shouting. I let them fight over it, grinning to myself as I leave the room.

**-TTIHM-**

We all crowd around the long table in the back garden, eyeing the massive turkey in the centre of it. It's a miracle the entire table doesn't just collapse, but then Nana's household charms are legendary.

Grandad sits at the head of the table and motions for us all to sit. Nana sits at his right, as usual. I'm somewhere down the middle, between Al and Lily and across from James, with Fred and Molly nearby.

Grandad taps his spoon on his goblet, but over the din at the table no one can hear him. Uncle Bill has to stand up and give everyone the "were-stare," as we call his wolfish look. Only then do we settle down.

"Happy Easter!" intones Grandad, spreading his arms wide, before sticking the carving knife into the turkey.

"He had to delay carving the turkey for _that_?" I hear Dad mutter, disgruntled.

"Ronald!" whispers Mum in a shocked voice, elbowing him.

I grin to myself. Despite the madness that is the Weasley-Potter clan, I'm glad to be here. Especially since those last few days of detention were hell, what with Malfoy and Josh and the narrow supply room and all.

Grandad puts turkey on a plate, while Nana loads it with other food and levitates it to the right spot. This takes a while, seeing as there are around thirty people at the table. James almost starts eating before everyone has received their portion, but Molly smacks the fork out of his hand.

As soon as Grandad shouts, "TUCK IN!" all the male family members practically dive into their plates. I make sure to hold up my napkin every time Al, James or Fred talk, because gravy flies all over the place.

Dinner was delicious, despite the lack of manners on the part of some people, and I leave the table contented. We all help Nana shrink the chairs for storage before going to our respective rooms. Washing up comes tomorrow, but luckily I'm free of that.

I'm sharing a tent in the back garden with Lily, Roxie, Molly, Lucy, Victoire and Dom. This sounds crowded but as the tent is magically enlarged on the inside, it isn't too bad. Plus we only sleep about three hours a night when we're all together anyway.

"First things first!" shouts Dom, pouncing on Victoire. "How is Teddy in bed?"

"DOM!" we all shout, tossing pillows at her. Vic just twists her ring around her finger with a shy smile.

"What?" Dom demands. "I had a crush on Ted for the longest time. As if all of _you_ didn't."

There are murmurs of sheepish agreement all around and Vic looks amused. "I had no idea my fiancé was in such high demand!" Suddenly there's raucous laughter outside the tent and we poke our heads out to find James and Fred lying on the ground clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"Oh, _Teddy_," moans James in between guffaws.

"Oh, please, Teddy,_ please_!" chimes in Fred.

Vic scares them off with a burst of purple light from her wand. They scramble away, still laughing. We all quietly file back into the tent, cheeks flaming. No doubt Teddy will be laughing his arse off and teasing us all tomorrow.

"Set a date for the wedding yet?" pipes up Roxie.

Vic rolls her eyes. "You know Daddy. He doesn't want me marrying until I'm twenty-five, and Teddy is scared of him even though technically they've both got a few wolfish tendencies."

There's some rustling outside. I point towards it and mouth "James and Fred" then begin talking. "So how many of our male cousins do you think are virgins still?"

Lucy catches on. "Oh, I'm not sure. My guess is that Al isn't though."

"Albus_ Potter_?!" comes a muffled whisper outside that sounds like an outraged James, then presumably Fred shushing him.

Dom jumps in. "Yes, Al is quite the ladies' man, isn't he? I think Louis and Hugo must have gotten started quite early as well."

"_Hugo_?!" comes from outside, followed by quick shuffling and a whispered "Ouch!"

"Well, naturally," Vic says in a very straight voice. "In fact, I believe Fred is one of the only ones who hasn't."

There's a rapid scuffle outside. I hold in the giggle that threatens to give us away as I talk. "And James, of course. He hasn't got a chance in Azkaban."

"HEY!" James shouts indignantly from outside, before marching in. "You keep that lying mouth of yours shut, Rose! You know that's not true! You found me in a broom closet with Emily Thomas last week! And the week before when you came to my dorm to borrow my Invisibility Cloak, and found me in there with Alice Finnigan! What about that, huh? What about that?"

We immediately collapse into giggles, as Fred walks in and rolls his eyes at James. "Well done, mate."

"What in the name of Merlin is going on?!" demands a very irate Nana, poking her head into the tent. She catches sight of James and Fred. "James Sirius Potter! Fred Bilius Weasley! Out of this tent and into your own this instant!"

She turns to the girls and frowns. "The next person I hear talking will be on toilet duty tomorrow!"

We all shut up immediately. No one wants to be on toilet duty - some people in this family have really bad aim.

With that, Nana smiles sweetly at us before leaving the tent. "Good night, dears."

**-TTIHM-**

"Hurry up, Dom!"

There's a line five people long outside the bathroom, and I happen to be at the end of it. The Veela spawn is inside, as she has been for the past hour.

She finally walks out, smiling angelically at us before strutting off. I almost growl at her.

After another agonizing half hour of waiting, it's finally my turn. But before I walk in, James sprints in ahead of me, shouting, "Make way, make way!"

He ducks in and slams the door in my face. I actually growl this time. "James, I swear to Merlin-"

"Gotta dump the toxic waste, Rosie," he calls from inside. I roll my eyes so much, I get dizzy and have to sit down.

Fifteen minutes later, he skips out with a merry "all yours, Rosie!" An absolutely rotten pong wafts out behind him. I wrinkle my nose and turn away. Besides, who really needs a bathroom anyway? That's what the bushes are for.

-**TTIHM-**

After a delicious breakfast of waffles, bacon, eggs and sausage, I cheerfully wave goodbye to my cousins, who are up to their elbows in suds and grease, scrubbing pots and pans. They send me death glares.

I Floo into Diagon Alley, then enter Muggle London through the Leaky Cauldron. I've made sure to wear Muggle clothes so I don't stand out among the crowd. I'm wearing a simple green sundress as it is muggy in the city as usual. I head to Harrods and do a bit of shopping there. It always has nice Muggle clothes. I don't linger, though, and I shop quite effectively. I'm not Dom, after all.

I look at my watch and realize its almost three! Merlin, I'm starving. I skipped lunch and now it's almost tea time. I'm also hot and my feet hurt. I couldn't magically shrink my bags as there was never a spot without any muggles around. I pass a little air conditioned café, then reconsider and walk in, the bell over the door jingling as I enter. Merlin, but it smells heavenly in here. I order a tea and a large slab of chocolate cheesecake, one of my biggest weaknesses. As I eat, the bell jingles again.

"I'd like a chocolate croissant please," I hear a deep, familiar voice and look up so fast I almost give myself whiplash. In all of bloody Muggle London! There is no way in Azkaban that can be-

"Weasley?!"

"Oh, hello, Malfoy," I squeak, my throat suddenly dry.

Scorpius Malfoy. In a muggle café. With a chocolate croissant in hand. Wearing bloody jeans. Oh, for Merlin's sake. No peace. No peace ever.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, confused.

"Oh you know," I blurt, gesturing at my bags. "Just sort of shopping."

Sort of shopping?

He points at the empty chair across the table from me. "May I?"

I sigh, abandoning all hope for a nice, stress free afternoon for myself. "Sure."

He sits down. I awkwardly stir my tea. Eventually I speak up. "So...what brings you here?"

"Visiting my mum," he sighs. Suddenly I notice the little frown lines, the bags under his eyes, and how much more pale than usual he is.

"Oh, that's right," I realize, "St. Mungo's is just around the corner."

"Yeah." He bites off a tiny piece of his croissant and takes forever to chew it. His nails are bitten almost all the way down.

"How is she doing?" I ask.

He shrugs, staring out the grimy window, his hands crushing the croissant so the chocolate oozes out. He doesn't even seem to realize. "The same," he finally says, looking at me. "They're holding her in stasis right now."

I nod silently and look down, taking a bite of my cheesecake.

"Do you want to see her?" he asks suddenly.

I blink. "Me?"

"Well, yeah," he smiles slightly.

"Yeah, I- that'd be great," I say, as soon as I recover my voice.

"Alright, whenever you're done with that," he nods at my cheesecake. He gets up and tosses his croissant in the rubbish, then returns. I frown at him. "Don't you need to eat?"

"I'm not hungry," he shrugs, looking out the window again. "I just came here because... Well, I needed to leave there. Just for a while."

Not sure how to respond to this, I put the cheesecake in a cardboard box and stuff it in one of my shopping bags. "Let's go, then."

He holds the door open for me on the way out.

**-TTIHM-**

I stand at the foot of the bed, staring at Astoria Malfoy's prone form, her son mute beside me. Her skin looks like wax, it's so pale and colourless, almost translucent. Her bones stand out underneath, her fingers so fragile it seems that lifting a wand would break them. Her eyes and cheeks are hollow and sunken. Without a word, Malfoy moves around the bed to sit at her side and hold her hand. A lump rises in my throat and suddenly I have to leave or I'll start crying at the way she looks, at his expression, at the delicacy and tenderness with which he handles her. I touch Malfoy's shoulder, whispering "I'll be right back."

He nods, his eyes not leaving her face. Out in the hallway, I lean against the wall, sighing. A Healer passes me and I remember something. "Wait!"

He turns and I see recognition flash in his eyes. He smiles at me. "Healer Devey. Which Weasley are you?"

"Rose," I reply. "I had a question for you."

"Yes?"

"I'm visiting someone with Spelltropy, and I read up on it a bit before. It's caused by toxins from pollutants, right?"

He raised his eyebrows. "It is, actually. Why do you ask?"

"I know that bezoars have detoxifying properties. Has that been attempted?"

His mouth drops open. "Miss Weasley, I don't believe it has. Could you please wait here a minute?" He darts off, returning in a minute with an older Healer, whom he introduces as Head Healer Kennedy. "Would you tell him what you told me, please?"

I repeat my question, and Kennedy looks at me surprisedly. "That is so obvious Miss Weasley, I wonder why we haven't ever thought of it!"

"Do you think it would help?" I ask hesitantly.

"No harm in trying! Which patient are you visiting?"

"Astoria Malfoy."

"Hmmm." He looks surprised again. "Yes, we will try that on her."

"Could you not tell her son yet?" I ask. "I mean, if it doesn't work I don't want him to be too disappointed."

The Healers nod. "Of course. We will try it after the Easter weekend so that he's not here."

"Thank you very much." I walk back to Astoria's room, where Malfoy's position is unchanged.

Healer Devey pokes his head in. "Mister Malfoy, your father is ready to see you now. Please wear this mask as he is still in quarantine." Malfoy puts on the mask, looking back at me before he leaves. As soon as he's gone I walk over to the bed and kneel beside it.

"I never met you," I told Astoria. "That's something I regret now. You must be very special for your son to care about you this much. But I promise I'll do everything possible to make sure you recover, even if only so that Malfoy remains happy. Why I care, I don't really know..."

Devey and Kennedy walk back in. "Miss Weasley! We wanted to ask your ideas on administering the bezoar."

"But I- I'm no Healer," I stutter.

"Yet you came up with the idea of the bezoar," says Kennedy kindly.

I look back at Astoria. "Well, she won't be able to swallow it whole... Grind it into a paste maybe!" The Healers nod and leave, discussing possible potions as they leave. I sit with Astoria for a while longer.

Eventually Malfoy walks back in. "Do you want to leave?"

I stand up. "Yeah, I should get back now."

He walks silently beside me till the Leaky Cauldron, though I tell him to go sit with Astoria. Once we enter I turn around and look at him firmly. "Your mum is going to be fine. Don't give up hope."

He smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Yeah. See you at school, Weasley."

"See you," I respond automatically, as he turns and weaves through the people milling about to the door without looking back.

-**TTIHM-**

After Flooing back home, I enlarge my bags - I'd shrunk them in St. Mungo's. I greet everyone as normally as possible, and only Mum picks up on my mood. But she doesn't comment on it, just gives me a strange look.

I manage to slip out for a walk later, when everyone is teasing the gnomes. I wrap a shawl around myself, as it's windy on the open hills. My hair blows every which way.

I hope to Merlin that Malfoy's mum gets better. Not just because it's terrible that anyone should have Spelltropy, but for more personal, possibly more selfish reasons. The way Malfoy was acting today... He had no life in him. And believe it or not, I enjoy the way we argue. I don't even know if I hate him to bits anymore. This is a problem.

A tawny owl suddenly swoops down, perching on my shoulder, a scroll tied to its leg. Surprised, I remove it and unfurl it, recognizing the handwriting immediately.

"Weasley," is who it's addressed to.

_I know you probably won't, and if you do it's too late, but please don't tell anyone about my mum. Not even Albus. It's hard to explain why I don't want anyone knowing, but I'd just rather have them not know._

_-Malfoy_

I run my fingers over the bold, clear letters. I still find this odd. Why would he not tell his best friends, but tell me, his lifelong nemesis? I tuck it in my pocket, to write back later.

**-TTIHM-**

I wrote to Malfoy that of course I hadn't told anyone. He responded with just a simple "Thank you."

The bezoar treatment they are going to try on Malfoy's mum has been on my mind ever since I suggested it to those Healers. It would be wonderful if it works, but what if it doesn't? What if it makes her worse?

Because of this, I've gotten incredibly snappy with my family, so much so that my male cousins mutter "women's issues" as they walk past me and my female cousins offer me sanitary napkins and tampons. This just annoys me more. Merlin, I can't wait till we go back to school. It sounds odd, and I have no idea why, but I really can't.

Maybe it's because once break ends, they'll try out the treatment. Healer Kennedy has written to me promising to give me the results. He also promises not to tell Malfoy it was me who suggested the bezoar.

Finally, the day we go back to Hogwarts arrives. I sit in a carriage with my dorm mates, aside from Dom, as my family is still annoying me.

Halfway through the journey I excuse myself to go change. I don't notice Malfoy anywhere on the train, even the Slytherin compartment. This is increasingly odd because I took a long route to find a private compartment, since I needed the exercise.

No white blond hair catches my eye among the students boarding the carriages, not that I was actively looking. It doesn't matter anyway. Unless...they didn't try the treatment a day early, did they? Did something go wrong?

I finally see him walk into the Great Hall at supper. He tries to avoid as little attention as possible, but girls still whisper. As always.

I sit with Lily, Roxie, Ella, and Jasmine from my dorm. They're chattering away to each other and I don't feel too much like joining in. I glance over at the Slytherin table, to find that Malfoy is glancing at me too. Being the extremely awkward person I am, I look away immediately, dropping my spoon into the soup and splattering us all. I blush and apologize profusely.

"Oooh! You're blushing! Who were you staring at?" asks Ella excitedly.

"No one," I mutter.

Lily look in the general direction I've been looking. "Oh, ugh. Please don't tell me it's Francis Macmillan. That boy is a stick in the mud."

"No, it was not Francis," I laugh, letting my eyes stray to the Slytherin table again. Malfoy is looking down in his soup, but has an unmistakably smug grin on his face.

**-TTIHM-**

Up in the dorm, I'm just about to get into bed when I hear a tapping on the window. I see a little reddish-brown owl knocking with its beak and open the window to let it in.

The bird perches on my shoulder, and I quickly unfurls the scroll from its leg. It's Healer Kennedy, telling me the procedure will take place tomorrow, and that they've decided to dissolve the bezoar in a solution of Flobberworm mucus and Mandrake root.

"Ooh, who's that from?" asks Jasmine. She sees the signature before I roll up the parchment. "A Healer?"

"Yeah, I'm applying for an internship at St. Mungo's next year," I lie. "You know, as extra experience."

"Oh, that'll be fun!" she smiles.

I grimace. "It's actually quite depressing, seeing all the ill and dying people. But if you can help them, it's worth it."

She nods and gets into bed, as do I. But I can't sleep tonight. Part of the reason is knowing there's a boy a few floors down who won't be able to sleep either.

**A/N: HI! GUESS WHAT? I'M HERE! EARLY! :D**

**I'm actually not too happy with this chapter. It seems kind of choppy, and I'm wondering if I made the angst too dramatic. But trying to rewrite those bits would have taken me atleast a month, so here it is. :) Hoping it doesn't bother you guys too much! **

**Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, faves and alerts! We've hit and passed 100 alerts! Yay! Keep em coming, mwah!**

**~Meg xx**


	14. Nothing Short of an Alpacalypse

_Well I was sittin' waitin' wishin' you believed in superstitions_

_Then maybe you'd see the signs_

_But Lord knows that the world is cruel_

_And I ain't the Lord, no, I'm just fool_

_Learning lovin' somebody don't make em love you_

_~Sittin' Waitin' Wishin' - Jack Johnson_

**Disclaimer: no infringement here. Nope.**

* * *

"Rose! Rose! Rose, Rose, RoseRoseRoseRoseRose!"

"What?" I snap, turning around in my seat.

Al smiles sheepishly at me. "Help?"

He holds out a mouse with the handle of a pewter jug as a tail. I sigh and help him correct it.

"And me?" Dom bats her eyelashes at me.

"Stop with the eye-fluttering," I warn her as I take her pewter jug, which has a mouse tail for a handle. "You can't seduce me."

"I would never," she breathes, as she bends down so that her shirt dips. At the same time, she waves coquettishly at some boy across the room. I sigh again as Al moans and begins banging his head on his goblet.

Malfoy pays no one any attention. His mouse is already a perfect pewter jug, and he keeps folding and unfolding a letter in his hands. I have a feeling it's from the hospital - they're trying out the bezoar treatment today.

Jasmine from my dorm plops down beside me, holding out her jug, which is grey and furry. "Hello, genius. Care to fix the problems of a lesser being?"

I roll my eyes at her, but before I can take the jug Albus grabs it. "I can!"

This ends up with Albus growing a mouse tail and Jasmine walking him to the hospital wing.

**-TTIHM-**

I'm sitting with the brood at lunch when some girl who looks like she's in fourth year wearing strangely shaped earrings walks by laughing like a lunatic.

"Is she alright?" asks Roxie.

"I don't know, but she reminds me of someone," muses Louis.

"Hey," James calls over to her. "What's so funny?"

"Oh," she gasps with laughter. "Just this YouTuber, Jack Harries."

"What is a YouTuber?" wonders Dom.

"I'm fairly certain it's somewhat like a potato," Fred says. "A potato is a tuber, right?"

The girl plants her hands on her hips, speaking with a slight Irish lilt. "Are you all thick? It's a person who puts up videos on YouTube."

"What is YouTube?" demands James. "Is it the potion you're currently on?"

"You're rude," she sniffs disdainfully.

"Yeah, he is," I tell her. "Come sit, and tell us more about YouTube, because those without muggle born parents are extremely ignorant. Also, what's your name?"

Everyone but Hugo huffs angrily at being called ignorant. The girl sits down between Louis and Roxie. "I'm Caroline O'Shay."

"Nice to meet you Caroline," says Lily, displaying the manners of the Weasley family that so rarely show. "So who is Jack Harries? Your boyfriend?"

"Ha, I wish," she snorts. "No, he's a stranger to me. But he puts up really funny videos and I love watching them."

"Does this boy not have a life?" wonders Louis.

"He's dedicated it to making people laugh!" cries Caroline.

"What are your earrings, by the way?" asks Roxie.

"They're jars of Nutella, of course," she exclaims.

We all share blank looks. Caroline sighs. "It's this spread you put on toast, it has chocolate and hazelnuts and is delicious. Jack loves it."

"Oh..." we chorus unsurely.

"Jack is _very_ handsome, by the way," she adds.

"Hmmm... You'll have to show me a picture sometime," winks Dom, true to form as ever. We chuck all the dinner rolls at her and a good three minutes is lost in a lecture about civility.

"I definitely will!" grins Caroline. "But now I have to go attend to my Tamagotchi." She gets up and runs off.

"What the bloody hell is a _Tamagotchi_?" mutters James.

"It sounds Japanese..." says Roxie, her brow furrowed in thought. "It must be a type of sushi."

"What the bloody hell is _sushi_ then?" demands James.

I roll my eyes at him. "Sushi is a Japanese dish, made of raw seafood and wrapped in rice and seaweed. Broaden your horizons, idiot."

Dom, Lily and Hugo all go "_Ewwwwww_!" at the same time.

"I swear to Merlin, she reminds of someone so much," mutters Louis.

"Yeah, I get that sense too," I nod. "I just can't think of whom..."

James scoffs. "That one drug addict on Tottenham Court Road outside the seedy looking pub, except she's female. And cleaner."

"She was right," I tell him. "You are rude."

He just shrugs as he finishes his food and saunters off.

**-TTIHM-**

Potions is interesting, to say the least. While Malfoy and I don't have to brew a potion together, as today is a talking day for Slughorn, we do have to sit together. Malfoy looks extremely nervous the entire time, folding and unfolding that parchment, tapping his feet, jiggling his knee. His fists are clenched so that the veins in his forearms stand out. I try to focus on Slughorn, but there's only so much bonbons can do to hold my attention. I can feel the tension emanating from the boy beside me.

After a very long hour, we finally get to leave. Malfoy picks up his bag and strides out of the door, all in one fluid motion. I wait behind for Al, and we walk up the dungeon steps together before I leave for Divination and he for Care of Magical Creatures.

The Divination room is so hot, you can almost see steam curling around the place. I immediately feel sluggish as I step in. The fact that today is all about tarot cards doesn't help. I watch as Trelawney demonstrates how to shuffle them, sinking lower and lower in the chintz armchair. My eyelids seem to match my posture.

"Alright, let me do a reading for someone," announces Trelawney and my eyes snap open. Not me, not me, not me. "How about Miss Weasley?"

"Er, you mean Dom?" I ask hopefully.

"No, you, dear," she says, her bangles clinking as she motions me forward. Oh, wonderful. I shuffle forward and perch awkwardly on the plush stool across a little table from her.

With much flourishing and gesturing and general panache, Trelawney shuffles and deals the cards. She gasps, looking at them in horror.

"Am I going to die again?" I ask tonelessly, to snickers from my classmates.

"Oh no," she says, sounding almost disappointed. "But something you would never expect is going to happen to you today. Be warned! Much could depend on how you react."

"So...don't hex whoever bothers me, then," I reason.

"Following school rules is always a start, dear," she sniffs.

I go back to my seat across from Dom, who leans in to whisper, "Maybe Flitwick will give you Student of the Year award!"

"And maybe Blast Ended Skrewts will grow fur and tails and run around barking at people and licking them," I respond, maybe a bit too snappishly. Dom rolls her eyes and mouths "_time of the month_" at me.

**-TTIHM-**

The Weasley-Potter clan is loud and proud at supper, as per the norm. They've invited Caroline to sit with us as she's loud, hotheaded, and more than a little strange. In other words she fits in perfectly.

Malfoy sits alone at the Slytherin table, still clutching his paper. I'm pretty sure Al is pissed off at him because in Al's words "he's such a drama llama, I mean it's not like there's been an alpacalypse. See what I did there? See that?" Needless to say, Al does not know the full story. Or any of it, really.

Caroline is acting out a Jack Harries video where Jack apparently ties up his twin, Finn, and pretends he doesn't exist. Most of my family is shocked.

"But why would he do that?" cries Lily. "That's so _terrible_!"

"It was a joke!" Caroline tries to explain.

"It is not very funny," sniffs Molly, who as a rule avoids any use of contractions in speech or writing as far as possible. This is because she's a pompous prick, as James says.

"You never find anything funny," Louis told her.

"That is absolutely untrue!" says Molly. "I made that joke last year about Cornelius Fudge! You know, when I said the only sweet thing about him was his name?"

"Political jokes don't count," James informs her.

"My great-uncle always cracks political jokes," says Caroline dreamily. "I remember once he said something about Kingsley having a smooth head."

Lily and Roxie exchange confused glances, but decide to ignore her.

At that moment, a man in blue robes walks into the Great Hall. He raises his head, looking over the students, then calls, "Scorpius Malfoy!"

All talking in the hall ceases, and all heads turn to look. Malfoy turns pale as a ghost, but gets up and walks resolutely toward the man, gripping that piece of parchment and his wand tightly. He stops beside the man to ask something, I can't tell what from here, but the man simply shakes his head and motions toward the stairs. They walk out of the hall and up the stairs together.

With difficulty I turn my attention back to our table and realize Caroline's been telling a story. "So there I was, holding a Plimpy and covered in Gurdyroot juice. And you'll never believed who walked in the door!"

"Who?" asks Roxie.

"Well, no one actually," Caroline frowns to herself. "Walking into a door would hurt. But you'll never believe who walked into the doorway! My great uncle Merle!"

"Wait, I thought Merle and Marla were eaten by the Plimpies," says Lily confusedly.

"Turns out Merle survived!" says Caroline. "So he walked in and told me that was a little bit of his wife I was holding!"

Molly stands up. "Well, this has been fun, except that it really hasn't. So I will head back to the Ravenclaw table, where the conversations - and_ people_ - are saner."

"Who stirred up her cauldron?" wonders Dom.

"The same person who stirred up Malfoy's, no doubt," grumbles Al.

"You annoyed Molly?" James asks, then holds his hand up for a high five. "Good for you!"

I ignore him. "Why me?!"

"Because you always annoy Malfoy," Lily says, rolling her eyes.

"Ooooohh, rejected," mutters James, dropping his hand.

"Well, this time it's not me," I declare.

"Yeah? What is it then?" asks Fred.

"I don't know," I lie.

"Liar," says Lily.

My jaw drops. "Ex_cuse_ me?!"

"Are you hard of hearing?" James asks. "She said liar."

"I know what she said," I snap.

"Your nose twitched," says Lily. "What did you do?"

"I might have accidentally, erm, knocked an entire ink pot onto his potions essay accidentally," I shrug, making sure my nose stays still.

Al narrows his eyes at me. "You said accidentally twice."

I gulp, before Hugo jumps in. "Obviously, people, two double negatives make a positive. She means she did it on purpose."

Merlin, my brother is dumb. I open my mouth to point out that accidentally isn't even a negative, but close it again. The last thing I need is more questions.

**-TTIHM-**

I toss and turn in my bed. It's past 11 and everyone else on my dorm is asleep, but I can't seem to join them. I just know that man came to tell Malfoy how the treatment went and I can't stop wondering.

Finally, I accept that sleep isn't my friend tonight and get out of bed. I pad to the stairs and walk down them silently. In the common room I stare at the fire to try and calm myself, but it doesn't work.

I leave Gryffindor tower. I want to go to the kitchens and get some warm milk with honey, but this stupid staircase has other ideas and I find myself walking down the third floor corridor. I sigh and hope there's a way down at the end of it.

I turn a corner and see moonlight glinting off Malfoy's hair. He turns at the sound of my footsteps. "Weasley!"

He runs toward me and I see that he's grinning as wide as he can. "Guess what? My mum! She's better! She woke up tonight!"

I gasp and break into a grin myself. "The bezoar worked?"

His mouth drops open. "How did you..."

I curse myself internally. I didn't want him to know it was me. "I might have suggested it to the Healers?"

His mouth still hangs open.

"On Easter weekend," I continue. "I read before that Spelltropy is cause by a buildup of toxins and that bezoars detoxify, so it seemed like-"

But I can't say anything else, because Malfoy suddenly pulls me to him, bends down and kisses me.

And that's when the bloody fireworks go off.

* * *

*hides behind Scorp*

*hides behind Scorp* don't kill me guys. I had to include that one cliffie there! I couldn't resist!

But anyway, kisses for the reviews. Can you believe we are at 99? I was like ONE MORE ONE MORE COME ON! Oh well. Hopefully we hit that now, eh?

Remember, reviews make me write faster! Sooo... if you want an update... and want to find out what Rose's reaction is... REVIEW!

Also just remember if you want a chappie from Scorp's POV leave it in a review with the chapter number! I'll give you a shout out at the top.

~Meg xx


	15. The Kiss, Part II

_Sha-la-la-la-la-la  
My, oh, my  
Look at the boy too shy  
He ain't gonna kiss the girl  
Sha-la-la-la-la-la  
Ain't that sad  
Ain't it shame, too bad  
You gonna miss the girl_

_`From Disney's The Little Mermaid_

**A/N: Hey guys, so I have a couple things to say up here. Shoutout to DivergentRavenclawofDistrict12 (great username by the way) for being my 100th reviewer! SQUEEEE! And also to kanjimaru67 for being the only one to get the danisnotonfire reference. **

**Also this chapter will be a Scorp and Rose combined POV due to popular request. From DivergentRavenclawofDistrict12, bodsquad, and Syckness. And just so you're not lost, it starts at dinner when the man in blue comes to talk to Scorpius. So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, blahblah**

* * *

**Scorpius POV**

I pick at my food halfheartedly. I don't feel hungry at all, the worry has eaten a giant hole in my stomach. This morning I got a letter from St. Mungo's informing me of a treatment they were going to try on my mum. It involves bezoars and they said it most likely wasn't risky, but could have implications. Those implications are what I'm worried about.

The entire day I've been carrying that letter around. I saw Weasley glancing at it and I'm sure she has an inkling of what it is. I look over inconspicuously at the Gryffindor table where she sits with her family and can't help feeling a slight pang in my chest. If I had a large family like that, I wouldn't be alone in this. I'd have people around me to support me and comfort me.

Then I realize that's exactly what Weasley has done. Even though she's supposed to be my enemy she'd been there for me. And I know I'll never really be able to thank her enough. But I'll definitely consider making her life a little easier and perhaps not irritating her constantly. Perhaps, because really, it's just too easy to wind her up.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" calls someone from the entrance of the hall and I look over automatically. There's a man in blue robes and oh, Merlin, I remember him, he's an administrator at St. Mungo's. My palms begin to sweat, but I force myself to get up and walk over to him.

"Is she alright?" I ask quietly, mindful of the staring students. But he just shakes his head and motions upstairs.

We walk up the stairs to the first floor, where he's certain no one will hear. He then turns to me. "I'm Harold Septimus, I don't know if you remember?"

"Yeah," I say, my throat dry. "We met on Easter weekend in the hospital."

He nods. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, I've come to notify you about your mother. Today we attempted the bezoar treatment on her, as we told you before. She has responded surprisingly well."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "She has?"

"Yes, she woke up for a few minutes." He smiles, knowing I'll be relieved.

"Did she speak?" I asked, a grin forming. If I knew my mother, she wouldn't waste any time not talking.

"She asked for you," he says.

I shake his hand hard, grinning like a fool. "Thank you, so much. Really."

"She's still weak," he warns. "We will need to observe her for a month yet."

"Of course," I say, still grinning.

He tips his cap. "Well, that is all. My best wishes to your mother."

I grin and wave like a moron. My cheeks hurt but I can't stop smiling.

I suddenly feel ravenous, probably because I haven't eaten enough for over two weeks. I practically skip down to the kitchens and ask for a large slice of chocolate cake, which I devour within two minutes. The elves offer me more, but I decline.

I don't even bother heading to my dorm since I just know I'm not going to be able to sleep. Instead I wander the halls for Merlin knows how long still with that ridiculous grin. I get really lucky, because I don't see so much as a cat hair from Mrs. Norris or hear so much as a wheeze of Filch's.

Eventually I pause beside a window somewhere on the third floor. I hear footsteps behind me and turn around. "Weasley!"

She smiles and keeps walking toward me but I can't help running over to her. "Guess what? My mum! She woke up!"

She gasps, and grins herself. "The bezoar worked?"

Wait. What? I don't remember telling her anything about the treatment. "How did you..."

She gulps visibly. "I might have suggested it to the Healers?"

I know my mouth hangs open like a dead fish, but I can't bring myself to close it.

She keeps talking but I can't hear what she's saying, I can only keep staring at her and thinking she saved my mother and noticing the moonlight shining on her pale skin and how she pushes her hair back and twists her fingers when she's nervous and suddenly without me realizing what has been happening our lips touch.

And then she freezes.

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose's POV **

I feel myself swaying back and forth, like I'm not sure what to do. It takes me a few seconds, but I push him off and turn away. "I have to- I can't-"

I don't know what else to do, so I just start walking away as fast as I can.

"Rose! Wait!" Malfoy calls from behind me, sounding a little panicked. But as soon as I turn the corner I break into a run and don't stop until I'm back in my dorm room.

I sink onto my bed, gasping for air. If I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure whether that's from the running, or the... the other thing.

I roll under the covers and pull them over my head to hide from the world, but my breathing is so fast I run out of air and have to pull them down again.

What the bloody hell is wrong with me?! I find a kiss from my boyfriend boring and uninspiring (given, he's an arse, but I thought he was nice and liked him at the time) and then my sworn enemy kisses me and the bloody fireworks come back from Kazakhstan.

I cover my face with the pillow and moan quietly. Merlin, this is mortifying. How the hell am I supposed to face Malfoy after that little spectacle?

I sit bolt upright. Wait a minute, I'm not the one at fault, he is! He kissed me first!

_But you liked it_, whispers that nagging little voice at the back of my mind. I mentally sit on it. I didn't exactly like it, you could say. I was kind of shocked which is why I didn't have the proper reaction.

_Who are you trying to fool?_ whispers that voice.

_I thought I sat on you_, I snap back, then realize I'm having a conversation with myself. Merlin, look what Malfoy's reduced me to.

Either way, I'm definitely not falling asleep now.

**-TTIHM-**

**Scorp's POV **

She sways back and forth a little, her eyes closing as she leans into me briefly, then they snap open, she pushes me back, stutters something and bolts.

"Rose! Wait!" I call after her, not knowing what I want to say, but she doesn't look back.

I bang my head against the wall, which doesn't help the way it's spinning. Not from the kiss - from the news.

_Damn it, Malfoy, you always screw everything up. _

Somehow I find myself back in my dorm. No one is awake, so I don't have awkward questions to answer. I slide into bed. But I'm far from sleep.

I keep wondering what Weasley will do tomorrow - or I suppose today, now that its past midnight. She could either get unbelievably awkward, or just ignore me, or get pissed and slap me. I hope it's either the first or the third, because that'd be fun to watch. It's not like there's any other option; after all she didn't kiss back, other than the slight swaying and closing eyes.

I sit bolt upright. Swaying? Closing eyes? She definitely wanted to kiss back. HA! Scorpius Malfoy's charm works yet again!

Merlin, but I'm a prick. The bird just saved my mother's life and here I am rejoicing about my powers of seduction.

_Because you liked it,_ says a nagging little voice in the back of my mind. I mentally step on it. I didn't really like it - or her. I was just very grateful.

_And a kiss seemed like an appropriate form of thanks?_

_Didn't I just step on you?_

_You could have just sent a nice little musical greeting card or something. _

_Yeah, no. Fuck you. _

Regardless, sleep is a foreign concept.

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose POV **

I sit very rigidly at breakfast, my eyes darting. I've made sure I don't face the Slytherin table so that there's no chance of accidental eye contact with Malfoy.

As it turns out, I should've just gone to sit there, because Malfoy saunters along to our table, along with Al. Horror of horrors, he sits beside me. I look up, make brief eye contact, and look away, blushing furiously. Out of the corner of my eye I see him smirk.

I'm silent throughout breakfast, concentrating fiercely on not letting our arms touch. This is awkward, as he's on my right and I eat with my right hand. I end up twisting my body so I can cut my French toast. At one point he moves slightly and our knees knock and I jump and let out a squeak.

"What is it?" Lily asks me.

"I, er, bit my tongue," I mutter. Beside me, Malfoy's shoulders start shaking and I just know he's laughing at me. I huff in annoyance and stand up to leave, throwing down my napkin. As I look back I see the others looking confused, and Malfoy sliding over and finishing off my French toast.

Well, he's obviously not worried about my germs, he kissed me last night.

Bad Rose! Stop thinking of it! Oh, now my face is tomato red again. That's attractive.

**-TTIHM-**

**Scorpius POV **

I walked into the Great Hall for breakfast with Al beside me. He headed toward his family at the Gryffindor table. There was an empty spot beside Weasley, so how could I stay away?

As I move to the seat next to her, she looks up and locks eyes with me. Only for a second, but it's enough. Her cheeks flood with colour and I can't hold back my smirk. Oh, today is going to be fun.

She seems to be trying to avoid touching me at all costs, so I decide to have a little fun with it. I purposely knock knees with her and she nearly does a backflip and lets out the cutest little squeak ever. I mean cute as in a bunny. Or a puppy. Or a kitten.

Lily asks if she's alright, slightly concerned at the noise.

"I, er, I just bit my tongue," she mumbles, and I can't stop myself from laughing silently. It probably looks like I'm in pain. She glares at me before stomping off, throwing her napkin for effect.

"What's with her?" Lily asks. I shrug, my mouth already full of Weasley's leftover French toast.

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose POV **

In Charms, I make sure to let Malfoy go first and take his seat, then I take mine in the opposite corner of the room. Because of this, class goes smoothly. But when we're dismissed, he walks towards me with a wicked glint in his eye. I dash for Transfiguration.

I sit in the darkest corner and shrink down in my seat, hoping not to be noticed, but no, as soon as the prick walks in, he makes for the seat beside me. I quickly throw my bag onto it.

"Is this seat taken?" he asks with a smirk.

I glare at him. "Yes, actually, it is."

"By what, may I ask?" He's back to cocky and arrogant, now that his mother's better.

"By my bag," I hiss. "So sod off!"

He leans in close. Too close. "Do I make you uncomfortable, Weasley?"

His breath smells like rich chocolate. "Well, you refuse to respect my personal space, so... yeah."

He laughs, but backs off, instead carelessly tossing my bag to the ground and taking the seat. "You liked it."

"Let's not forget, you kissed me," I remind him. He scowls at this and turns to face the front. I fist pump internally. Victory!

_You didn't deny you liked it. _

_I'll sit on you again. _

Professor Chang instructs us to read a chapter I've already read, and no doubt Malfoy has too. She then leaves the room for something and the whispering breaks out.

Malfoy leans towards me, looking irritated. "Look, Weasley-"

I hold up my hand. "Save it. I know why."

"You... what?"

"I know why you kissed me. You were relieved, and tired, and emotional, and I was the only one there."

He stares at me for a long moment, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah," he finally says.

I smile in triumph. "Good. Now we can go back to normal."

"I still want to thank you first," he murmurs, leaning in so no one will hear. His eyes go all silver like they do whenever he gets intense. "I never really got down to that, but I hugely appreciate it. I don't know how I'll pay you back. But if you need something..."

I blush. "I'm fine, thanks."

He rolls his eyes. "I didn't mean now. I meant whenever, like for example, if you were to need tutoring-"

"Ha," I interject, and he laughs.

"Alright, fine, maybe not. Quidditch training, maybe," he adds with a smirk.

"Ha."

"Merlin, Weasley!"

**-TTIHM-**

**Scorpius POV**

I decide to tease Weasley a little - or a lot - today.

_You kissed her,_ the little voice in my head reminds me. I just ignore it.

In Charms I don't see Weasley, so I just sit down, but she walks in the door at the very last minute and makes for the opposite side of the room. I grit my teeth - I'll be sure to try again later.

At the end of class I decide to offer to walk her to Transfiguration, but she sees me coming and bolts. Again.

I follow her, although she's moving really fast. But I manage to keep her vivid hair in sight until she ducks into the classroom. I walk leisurely in after, making sure to be unruffled.

She's sitting in a corner, her head down, clearly trying to hide, but that hair just gives her away. I saunter over and she quickly throws her bag onto the seat beside her.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask casually.

She stares daggers at me, almost as if she's daring me to go ahead and take the seat. "Yes, actually, it is."

"By what, may I ask?"

"By my bag, so sod off," she whispers venomously as other students begin to file in.

I move around to the front of her desk and place my hands on it, leaning in close. Just like last n _- don't think about it!_ "Do I make you uncomfortable, Weasley?"

She blushes, which satisfies me, but doesn't go all bashful, which disappoints. "Well, you refuse to respect my personal space, so... yeah."

Fair enough, but it still stings a little. I laugh to hide it, tossing her bag to the ground as I take the seat.

"You liked it," I tease.

She narrows her eyes, which makes her look like a little orange cat that's waiting to pounce. "Let's not forget, you kissed me."

Damn it. Now this is awkward. I scowl, looking away as Chang takes attendance and instructs us to read a chapter I know we've both read before. A student then enters the room to give her message, and she leaves quickly. Suddenly everyone in the class is loud and boisterous.

I need to explain. "Look, Weasley-"

Without looking at me, she holds up a hand to stop me talking. "Save it. I know why."

"You..." I'm confused. "What?"

"I know why you kissed me. You were relieved, and tired, and emotional, and I was the only one there."

Oh.

Is that true?

I was definitely tired and emotional and relieved. But I didn't kiss her just because she was there; I mean if Al had been there I would definitely not have kissed him. (Ew.)

And...I don't think I kissed her just because of the news, or her involvement although that was a part of it. What was I thinking at the time? Oh yeah, something about moonlight... Oh, shit.

But this stays absolutely silent.

So I just say, "Yeah."

She smiles, obviously very relieved. "Good. Now we can go back to normal."

Then I realize what a prick I am. Again. I haven't properly thanked the girl yet. I lean in so that no one will hear. "I still want to thank you first. I never really got down to that, but I hugely appreciate it. I don't know how I'll pay you back. But if you need something..."

She blushes, which makes me smile. "I'm fine, thanks."

Merlin, the witch took it literally. "I didn't mean now. I meant whenever, like for example, if you were to need tutoring-"

"Ha," she snorts, and I can't help laughing.

"Alright, fine, maybe not. Quidditch training, maybe," I suggest, hoping for a big reaction, but she just snorts again. "Merlin, Weasley!"

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose POV**

I sit with the Gryffindor Quidditch team at lunch plus a few other people, on account of our game against Ravenclaw next weekend. James, ever the responsible Quidditch captain, wants to discuss strategy. He's banished Malfoy, Al and Molly to their respective tables, although Malfoy and Al aren't even playing in the match tomorrow and I actually don't think it's possible for Molly to care any less about Quidditch. He's even cast _Muffliato_ around us.

Admittedly, he might be a bit paranoid.

He holds several scrolls of parchment, each one about as long as the Potions, Charms and Defense essays I know for a fact he was supposed to write over the Easter holidays. He unrolls one of them, and I see little images of our faces and the faces of the other teams, as well as the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch, all moving around the page.

I quirk an eyebrow at him. "How are you getting only an A in Charms, James?"

"If you cared about Quidditch as much as you should, Rose, you'd have an A in Charms too," he snaps. "Now, down to business. Firstly, I'm shuffling your positions around."

We gasp. "Not even a week from the match?" asks Ariana Bell timidly.

"Yeah," agrees James. "But that won't matter, because I've booked us the pitch every morning till then. I tried to book it in the evenings, but Robert Wood argued that Ravenclaw had to have some time."

"Thank you, Wood," mutters Fred.

"I heard that," grouses James.

"You were meant to."

"Anyway," I interject, feeling that we'll never get anywhere otherwise. "Our positions."

"Right," says James. He looks down at the parchment. "Rose, you'll stay Keeper. Fred, Perceval, you're Beaters. Ariana, Lily, Roxie, you're Chasers, and I'm Seeker."

We all nod and he proceeds to outline possibly the most complicated play I've ever seen used in Hogwarts Quidditch.

"Merlin, James, this isn't the Quidditch World Cup you know," says Lily in disbelief, voicing my thoughts.

"Yes, but we're just trying this out on Ravenclaw," argues James. "We know we can beat them anyway. This is practice for Slytherin, our real opponents. It's going to take a lot to get that Quaffle past Malfoy."

I snort, remembering his offer to coach me. We'll see who really needs coaching in the finals.

**-TTIHM-**

**Scorpius POV**

Lunch was boring. I sat at the Slytherin table with Al because Potter was having a large team strategy meeting. He'd been incredibly, if not overly thorough, and sent us away before casting Muffliato. I can still see Weasley though, and her bored expression is surprisingly pretty entertaining.

"You think they're paranoid, don't you?" sniggers Al beside me.

"Hmm?" I wasn't expecting that.

He casts me an odd look. "That's why you're staring at them and smiling, right?"

"What?" I ask, then realize he's talking about the Gryffindor Quidditch team. "Yeah, I know, _Muffliato_ was a bit extreme."

He looks relieved. "Oh, good. I thought you had a thing for Lily or Roxie, maybe."

"No, definitely not," I reassure him, completely truthfully.

"It would be so weird if you dated one of my cousins," he shudders.

I give him an odd look. "What about Dom?"

"Well yeah, but she's dated tons of guys so I'm almost used to that," he says.

This is true.

"Lily or Roxie, though," he continues with an expression of revulsion. "That's different. Luckily, we'll never have to worry about you and Rosie."

I laugh at the thought. "That's absolutely ridiculous, mate."

_You kissed the girl._

_Ignoring you._

He grins. "I know, right?"

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose POV**

In Herbology, we're learning how to put fertilizer into the pots of adult Mandrakes without rousing them. I'm not ashamed to say I avoided Dom completely and paired up with Jasmine instead. Dom's a bit of a disaster when it comes to this class.

Malfoy and Al work a few pots over. Luckily the ferret couldn't say anything to me, as we've got those lovely earmuffs on.

Professor Sprout motions for one of each pair to get a pail of fertilizer (read: fresh Hippogriff dung) from her end of the long table. Jasmine leaves to go get it and I stay at the table, calm until something moist hits me in the back of the head. I whirl around, to see someone tall with a head of light blonde hair walking innocently in the other direction, swinging a bucket of fertilizer that seems to have a lump scooped out of the top.

"Malfoy!" I scream before realizing he can't hear me because of those stupid earmuffs. I wait until he reaches his spot with Al, then he glances over at me. I point at him and drag my finger across my throat. He just laughs.

Jasmine returns with the fertilizer and I begin wishing they'd given us nose plugs too. What follows is an hour of hot, sweaty, smelly work. Not to mention that some of that smell comes from my hair.

As soon as the double period is over, I fling off the dragon-hide gloves and the earmuffs and run up to my dorm, where I proceed to wash my hair thoroughly, with Dom's scented shampoo.

I rifle through my trunk for a clean shirt, and come across the bottle of red dye that James used to colour my mum's hair red a few years ago. I shake it and there's still some left, and that's when I get possibly one of my greatest ideas ever.

I run to James' dorm and grab the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk. He really should hide that thing better. I then pull it over myself and run down to the dungeons, where the entrance to the Slytherin common room is. Then I realize I don't know the password.

Luckily, a third year girl comes from behind me, almost banging into me, and as she lets herself in I sneak in quickly behind her. I've only been in here a couple of times, with Al, but I know where the boys' dorms are. I run down that passage until I get to a door labelled "Sixth Year Boys" and knock before ducking behind a pillar. When no one answers, I let myself in.

Oh, Merlin's _pants_, but it's messy in here. I pick my way past discarded Quidditch gear, old quills, smelly socks and teenage boy refuse in general before tossing the cloak on one of the beds and entering the bathroom. On a shelf are several bottles of soap and shampoo and such. I find one labelled S. Malfoy and unscrew the top before pouring what's left of the dye into it. I close it again and then go back into the room, intending to grab the Invisibility Cloak of whoever's bed I threw it on, but then the door handle turns. I freeze in panic for a fraction of a second before diving under the bed. The door opens, and who else but Malfoy himself should walk in. I curse internally.

He walks over to the very bed I'm hiding under, and I'm afraid he's found me, but he just picks up the Cloak and looks at it curiously. He slips it on, then realizes what it is and tosses it onto another bed.

He moves closer to the bed so that all I can see are his shoes and the hem of his robes. The robes swing and then disappear, after which something lands on the bed above me, so I assume he's taken them off. He then walks over to his trunk and pulls out a shirt and pants, then pulls off his own shirt before I can realize what he's doing. My jaw drops at the lean muscles of his shoulders and back, but I snap it shut again quickly. Now is not the time!

He reaches for the button on his pants and I close my eyes quickly, keeping them shut until I hear the bathroom door slam. I peek out from under the bed and there's no one in the room, so I dash out, grab the Cloak, pull it over myself and sprint out of the dorm, all the way up to the Gryffindor common room. I quickly run up to James' dorm, shove the cloak into his trunk and go back to the common room, trying to look calm and innocent. Dom looks up. "Hey, Rose! Come help me on my essay?"

"Yeah sure, let me go get mine," I say nonchalantly.

As I run up yet another flight of stairs, I mentally thank James for all the Quidditch training as well as the pranking practice.

**-TTIHM-**

**Scorpius POV**

Now I understand that flinging dragon dung into a girl's hair is probably the best way to end up castrated, but really, I had the dung, Weasley was facing away from me, and her red curls were just too inviting. What was I supposed to do? Not throw it?

In retrospect I see that would have been the wiser option, but then again, I've never really been wise when it comes to Rose Weasley, recent events coming to mind. Besides, the death threat was sort of completely worth it.

All this I mull over as I stroll down to my dorm. While the Herbology class was possibly one of the most enjoyable I'd ever had, it did leave me smelling less than fresh and I needed a shower.

I walk into the dorm, then notice something silvery on my bed. I frown, walking over to pick it up. It appears to be a cloak. I pull it on - huh, it smells a little like jasmine - then see that I'm invisible. It must be the Potter Invisibility Cloak and Al probably dropped it on my bed by accident. I spend a minute fantasizing about all the tricks I could play on Weasley with it, then dismiss the idea, because they probably wouldn't ever let me use it. I toss it onto Al's bed.

Walking over to my trunk, I pull out a shirt and pants to wear after my shower, then pull off my shirt and unbutton my pants on the way in. I'm alone in the room, after all. I grab my shampoo off the shelf and have a quick shower.

I step out, toweling my hair off, then glance in the mirror on my way out. Then I backtrack and look in again. Then I look again.

No, there's no mistaking it, my hair is a bright red. Not like red hair red, but tomato sauce red. Fire engine red. Devil red.

Speaking of the devil, whoever did this to me is going to be sent to spend some quality time with him really soon.

I throw my head back and growl in frustration. I can just imagine the way Weasley is going to make fun-

_Weasley!_

No, there's no way she could have done this. How would she even get in here? More likely it was one of the boys in my dorm. I suppose one of them will be waking up with a nasty infection you-know-where tomorrow, more's the pity.

I attempt _Scourgify_ on my hair but nothing happens at all. Deciding the shampoo must have been tampered with, I pour it down the drain.

Then I'm faced with a dilemma. What to do? I can't just walk into dinner like this.

It hits me. I run to Al's trunk and rifle through it until I find the ridiculous muggle hat Hugo gave him on his birthday. What is it called? Oh yeah, a beanie. I pull it over my head, making sure to tuck my hair in so none of it shows. It looks strange, but until I figure out how to fix it, it's better than the alternative.

I walk back into the dorm room and notice that the Invisibility Cloak is gone.

Potter.

Scowling, I walk to the Great Hall, slouching to look as inconspicuous as possible. I hope to make it to the Slytherin table so I can eat by myself, but Al walks in right after me and pulls me to sit with all the damn Weasleys and Potters. I sit down nervously.

"Nice hat," says Lily uncertainly.

Al looks over and only then notices it. "Hey! That's mine!" And before I can say anything, he reaches over and pulls it off. Everyone nearby stares at my hair open mouthed.

I can just feel myself turning that same lovely shade of red.

James Potter bursts out laughing and as usual, everyone follows his lead. "You look bloody ridiculous!"

"You did this, didn't you, Potter?" I snarl across the table.

He shakes his head, his eyes streaming. "No, I just wish I did so I could congratulate them!"

I look around furiously but no one looks guilty. Even Weasley is just laughing along with the rest of them. I know Pomfrey hates to be disturbed after 6 (she's getting old) but I have to fix this problem. Otherwise Prefect patrols with Weasley tonight will be a nightmare.

Pomfrey looks surprised to see me and inquires after Al, as he's normally the one with issues, but I assure her he's fine. She gives me a potion to put on my hair and leave on for an hour, but I don't feel like going back down as my hair goes from red to pink to blond again. So I just sit on the hospital bed, brainstorming all the curses I could use on the smartarse who thought this would be funny.

And the end of the hour, I thank Madam Pomfrey and duck into the nearest bathroom to rinse off the potion. My hair is back to normal, thank Merlin.

I head down to the common room - I've got some time to kill before patrols. Al spots me and grins. "You didn't keep the hair? I thought it did wonders for your skin tone."

I glare at him and continue to my dorm, where I check everyone's trunks for dye. I don't find any, but I suppose they could have just thrown the bottle out. After that ordeal I feel a bit dizzy, probably from the fumes emitted by Al's socks, so I decide to go wait for Weasley early.

She shows up at five to nine, as usual, looking surprised to see me there. "Oh, I can't believe you changed your hair back!"

I grit my teeth. "I'll leave red hair to the Weasleys, thank you very much."

She just laughs at me. Which annoys me - I'm supposed to be the one laughing. I rack my brains for something to this end. Then I remember Herbology. "Care to carry out that death threat you made earlier, Weasels?"

"Oh, you mean the one I made after you tossed dung in my hair?" she inquires sarcastically.

"Yeah, exactly."

"When you least expect it." She keeps walking.

**-TTIHM-**

**Rose POV**

When I saw Malfoy's hair, it took all I had not to jump up and shout "I did it!" Luckily, I could laugh as much as I wanted without looking suspicious since everyone else did too. One point to the Weasel!

Our patrol so far has been filled with the usual bickering. He has yet to figure out I'm the one who turned his hair red. I sort of want to tell him so I can lord it over him, but the, er, risks might outweigh the benefits. I don't want to end up with dragon dung in my hair next time.

We blast open a broom cupboard to find snogging fifth years and send them scurrying off. This is routine. What's not routine is Malfoy walking into it.

"Malfoy?" I ask in surprise. "What are you doing?"

He grabs my wrist and pulls me in, smirking, without warning. I immediately tense because of how small the space seems.

He feels how tense I am and leans in close. Too close. "What's wrong with broom closets Weas-"

He stops and falls silent.

"What's wrong with your speech, more like," I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

Completely unexpectedly, he leans forward and sniffs my hair. I freeze. "Erm, Malfoy, what are you..."

"Jasmine," he says in a low, deadly voice.

"No, I'm Rose. And you're a ferret, remember?"

"You smell like jasmine," he continues, ignoring me. "So did the Cloak."

Ah, shit.

He glares at me for nearly a minute, then straightens up to his full height. "You want to play? Game on, Weasley."

_Oh, this is going to be fun. _

"Bring it, Malfoy."

**A/N: this chapter is really long, like 27 pages on Word long. Leave a review and tell me what you think! Props go to Carriebear3000 for pre-reading, and to you guys for giving me 26 FREAKING REVIEWS in one chapter. I may have to resort to cliffies more often.**

**Anyhoo, who else liked my song choice in the beginning? Idk it made me laugh. More importantly, I'm going to be starting another story soon. It will be a Rose/Scorp, but quite a different vein from this. I plan to call it Partners Against Crime so check my author page! Also, I am neglecting finals, which are in a week, to update. I might not be able to post for a bit, as after exams I'm off to the wilderness (aka Banff National Park). So have fun with this, and review till I get back!**

**Love**

**~Meg xx**


	16. Afterparty with the (Fr)enemy

_Lean on me when you're not strong  
And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on  
For it won't be long  
'Til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on_

_~Lean On Me – Bill Withers_

**Disclaimer: laughter is probable, infringement is unlikely. Props to Carriebear3000 for pre-reading, real life AND fanfiction best friend and late night bitchin buddy.**

* * *

**Saturday morning, Quidditch Game Day**

"ROSE! WAKE UP!"

I crack open an eyelid to see James standing over me, in his Quidditch robes already, holding a broom. "How the hell did you get in here?"

"There are more important things to worry about!" he snaps.

"Yeah," groans Jasmine. "Like the fact that you're waking us all up. Leave."

"Fine," he mutters. "But Rose, you need to come down to the common room."

"Ten minutes," I sigh resignedly.

**-TTIHM-**

The entire team is gathered in the common room when I head down. They're all yawning and rubbing their eyes.

"Remind me why you have us all down here at six in the morning," grumbles Fred.

James stares at him. "Are you thick? We have a match today!"

"But it's at 12!" I protest.

"Yeah, and there will be no late, heavy breakfasts for any of you," warns James. "We're going to go down to the kitchens - me, Fred, and Perceval that is - and bringing back a healthy, light breakfast for us. That way it will be thoroughly digested. Then you can all have two bananas at 11:30."

"Yes, sir," Louis mutters. He's not technically on the team, but is here as reserve, and James insists he be ready too.

"I don't even like bananas," complains Fred. "They look too much like penises."

We just stare at him for a solid minute.

"What?" he demands. "It freaks me out."

"Okay, then," mutters Ariana.

"Well, today you're going gay, Fred," James commands him. At which the rest of the team begins giggling like little girls. "You have to eat those bananas at the right time for energy. Now come on, let's go get breakfast."

James, Fred, and Perceval disappear through the portrait hole. Lily, Ariana, Roxie, Louis and I stay back in the common room. Louis starts to doze off.

"Good morning, sunshine!"

We look up to see an entirely too perky Caroline.

"What is it," groans Louis.

"I wanted to wish you all good luck for the match!" she grins.

"Thanks, dear," mumbles Lily, curling up on the arm of the couch.

"I also wanted to show you this," says Caroline, holding out a picture.

I take it. "Why do you have a picture of Louis?"

Louis' eyes snap open. "What?"

"That's not Louis, that's Jack Harries!" argues Caroline, then looks from the picture to Louis. "Oh, I see what you mean though..."

Lily, Roxie and Ariana look and start laughing. "Oh my goodness!" chuckles Lily. "They could be twins!"

Louis looks at the picture. "I don't see it frankly, I'm much better looking."

"You're part Veela, right?" asks Caroline.

"Yep," he smiles proudly.

James walks in, carrying containers of yogurt. "What is she doing here?"

"Wishing us luck," says Roxie, poking Lily as she dozes off again.

James looks at Caroline. "Sorry, but you need to leave. We're discussing strategy, you see."

"Mate, she's in our house," says Louis in disbelief.

"Money can change loyalties," James says obscurely.

"It's alright, I'll go," says Caroline. "I need to up my energy for the day anyway." With that, she skips off.

"_Up_ her energy?" I wonder.

"Forget that now!" James snaps, back in team-captain mode. "We're going over this play again."

We all sigh and lean in. Ravenclaw is weak; we can beat them easily.

**-TTIHM-**

We walk out onto the pitch, brooms in hand as Mike Jordan announces our names. "Roxanne Weasley! Lily Potter! Ariana Bell! Perceval Dalrymple! Fred Weasley! Rose Weasley! And James Potter! As is the procedure for any game involving Gryffindor, the players will all be called by their first names. There's just too many of those Weasleys!"

Ravenclaw begins walking out on the other side and Mike calls out their names in turn. "Lorcan Scamander! Lucy Weasley! Marcus Finnegan! Adriana Nott! Priya Patil! Ada Hurley! And Lysander Scamander!"

Lysander and James shake hands in the middle of the pitch. There's no hand-crushing here - the Scamanders are family friends. But that doesn't mean we'll hesitate to crush them.

Oliver Wood, the Quidditch coach, blows his whistle and we all kick off. I fly straight to the hoops I'll be protecting. James flies up high, and the Chasers and Beaters on our team disperse around our side of the pitch.

Wood blows his whistle again and releases the balls. Quick as lightning, Lily grabs the Quaffle and speeds to the end of the field, where she puts it through the Ravenclaw post before Mike can even start his commentary.

"That Lily Potter!" Mike exclaims. "She's one to watch out for!"

I tune out his commentary after that, as it distracts me. I watch as Ada Hurley, Keeper for Ravenclaw, passes to Lorcan and he flies towards me. But Ariana swoops in, grabs it from him and attempts to score, however Ada saves it.

I hear the crowd roaring and look down. I see Al in the Gryffindor stands, and beside him is- _Malfoy!_ Wearing neutral colours, it's true, and not cheering or anything. But his eyes are following the game with intensity.

I focus back on the field. Lucy has the Quaffle and is coming towards me. She attempts to score, but I catch it easily and send it to Lily, who scores again.

In the next twenty minutes, Ravenclaw attempt to score three more goals, but I save them all easily, hearing chants of "Weasley is our Queen" from the stands. Lily scores two more on Ada, and Roxie and Ariana score one each. The Bludgers don't even come near us, Fred and Perceval do their job so well. After the game has been on for about half an hour, James catches the Snitch from where it's hovering over Lysander's shoulder and even I can see it.

"And Gryffindor win 210-0!" Mike shouts.

Everyone in the Gryffindor stands loses it, cheering and tossing their scarves around. We descend to the ground, where we all press in for a giant team hug.

"FINALS NEXT!" shouts James. "We're against Slytherin and we can crush them, the bastards!"

"Don't count on it," says a voice behind me, and I look up to see Malfoy smirking beside Al.

"Yeah, you won this time, but you won't beat us!" Al grins.

"We'll see," snorts James. "Until then, who's in the mood for Firewhiskey?"

**-TTIHM-**

The Room of Requirement is packed with people. All of Gryffindor fourth year and over is here, plus a few older Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. The only Ravenclaw I see is Lysander, and he's staring dejectedly into the bottom of his empty bottle of Firewhiskey.

The majority of the people here are drunk or close to it. James is fist pumping with Fred on a sofa, Louis is pouring Caroline a Firewhiskey, Lily and Roxie are following around Johnny Thomas and giggling like mad every time he looks at them. Jasmine is dancing with Al, Dom is with Merlin-knows-who Merlin-knows-where doing Merlin-knows-what, Ariana is doing cartwheels over two boys who are lying on the floor.

In other words, it's a normal Gryffindor celebration party.

Lily drops beside me on the couch. "Oh, Rose, isn't Johnny so dreamy?"

"He's a little young for me," I laugh. "But he's your age, so have fun with it."

"I will," she says, wiggling her eyebrows and jumping off the couch to go find him again.

Malfoy drops down beside me without warning. "You're not drunk. Why aren't you drunk?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Why aren't _you _drunk?"

"I'm not celebrating," he points out. "You should be."

"Who says I have to get drunk to celebrate?" I demand.

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on. Everyone gets drunk to celebrate. Or are you just a little prude?"

He stares at me, his eyes a challenge.

I narrow my eyes. "Look, Malfoy, I'll do what I want, I-"

"Prude," he coughs.

I glare at him. He snags a passing student's Firewhiskey - they don't even notice, they're so smashed - and offers it to me.

"You probably poisoned it," I mutter.

He rolls his eyes, takes a drink from it, then offers it to me again. I eye it suspiciously. "Why are you trying to get me drunk?"

"I'm doing you a favour, Weasley," he whispers, leaning in. "You're going to thank me ten years from now."

"I'll have to visit your cell in Azkaban then."

"Oh, aren't you funny."

"I am, actually. And fun. I'm also fun."

He laughs. "To annoy, maybe. When you get angry,_ extremely. _But at a party?"

I grit my teeth, grab the bottle and take a swig. It burns slightly, but I've had enough before to know what to expect. Here's the thing - I've always been a lightweight. And I tend to say the stupidest things when I'm drunk. It's rather embarrassing, which is why, as a rule, I don't drink at Hogwarts. I do it at the Burrow, with my cousins, who have to love me no matter what.

I take another swig and pass it back to him. "Here, happy?"

"You're not drunk," he points out.

"In my family, one of us always stays sober to make sure the others don't do anything too stupid," I bluff. "No one else in my family is sober, so I feel unprotected."

Malfoy leans in close, widening his eyes innocently. "Do you really think I'd let anything happen to you, Weasley?"

I blink like a startled turtle. The power of speech seems to have deserted me.

"Are you drunk already?" he asks, raising an eyebrow but not moving back.

It takes me a while to remember how to use my voice. "What?"

Wow! A word!

He looks at me oddly. "I said, do you really think I'd let anything happen to you?"

"Well, you threatened me yesterday," I point out.

Yes! A sentence! _It speaks!_

"True," he admits. "But I wouldn't let anyone else do anything. That's my job."

I gape at him in undisguised astonishment.

"It's what friends do for each other, right?" he asks, taking another swig before passing me the bottle.

I hold it uncertainly. "We're friends?"

"Well, I apologized to you a couple times, and you saved my mum's life, so we sort of have to be."

_And we kissed. _

But I digress.

"I won't even stop annoying you," he continues. "It'll be just the same!"

I wrinkle my nose. "I don't mind so much if you stop that."

"But I can't," he shakes his head adamantly. "You dyed my hair red. I must get revenge."

"You started it by throwing dung in my hair! So really, we're even."

"No we're not!" he argues. "Dyeing someone's hair outweighs the dung thing, so I still have to embarrass you a little before we're really even. It's like Arithmancy!"

"I'm going to drink if you start talking about Arithmancy," I inform him, taking a sip.

"I'm surprised you don't like it," he says.

I frown. "What's to like? It's dry and boring. That's why I'm not taking it."

"But it's logical," he insists. "And we all know you live by logic."

"I do not!"

"Do so! Explain why you're not drinking then!"

"Obviously because you'll hex me when I'm unaware," I scoff. "How stupid do you think I am?" Seeing the glint in his eye, I hastily add, "Don't answer that."

"I won't hex you," he promises. "Do you want an Unbreakable Vow?"

I eye him distrustfully. "Why are you even sitting with me?"

"Because Al is..." he trails off and looks to where Al is snogging Jasmine in a corner. "And there's no one else I really know here."

"I'm sure there's plenty you know in the biblical sense," I mutter.

He smirks. "Well. Even so, I don't really know them."

"You don't know me!" I argue.

"Yeeees, I do," he says, looking at me like I'm slow.

"You don't know anything about me," I clarify.

"I do," he insists. "Your favourite colours change every day. You love chocolate, caramel and maple syrup. Your favourite dessert is chocolate cheesecake. You have tea with milk and two sugar cubes. You love your big family, but you hate them too at times. You get very annoyed when people don't take you seriously. And of course, you love pranking people," he finishes, gesturing at his hair.

My jaw drops. "How do you know all that?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you honestly going to tell me you don't know my favourite colour?"

"Red."

"My favourite dessert?"

"Chocolate croissant."

"How I take my tea?"

"Black," I answer, but can't resist adding, "like your soul."

He rolls his eyes. "What makes me angry?"

"People judging you on your family," I sigh. Which I may have done in the past.

"Plus you know something about me no one else here does," he adds, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

"I suppose." His mother's illness, of course.

He grins triumphantly. "See? I was right, as usual. We do know each other."

"I know one more thing about you," I grumble. "And it's that you're infuriating. Pass me that bottle, will you?"

**-TTIHM-**

Half an hour later, I'm slightly tipsy, as is Malfoy.

"No, but pigs _can_ be brown," I insist.

He scoffs. "Don't be ree-dic-you-luss, they're _always_ pink." He's at a stage where he completely butchers any word longer than three syllables.

"And the bottle's empty," I add.

"I'll refill it!" he says excitedly, but he slurs the spell and it goes wrong.

I find myself with a suddenly clear head. "You idiot, you sobered us up!"

He frowns at me. "Well, now I can actually refill it."

Just as he does, two people fall over the arm of the couch knocking into him and he spills it on me. I jump up. "My robes! You imbecile, now I smell like a brewery!"

"It wasn't me, it was them!" he protests, pointing over his shoulder.

I look to see Louis and Caroline, snogging like there's no tomorrow. "Wow, I must say I did not see that coming."

"Yeah," Malfoy agrees. "Who is she?"

I snap my fingers. "Luna Scamander! She reminds me of Aunt Luna! Except more sexually aware, clearly."

"You must still be drunk if you really just said sexually aware."

"Oh, shut up," I snap. "I'm going to go change."

He keeps pace with me as I leave the Room of Requirement. I take out my wand. "_Accio_ dress!"

In a minute or so, my dress comes zooming down the corridor and I catch them. "I'm going to the bathroom to change."

"I'll be here," he says, leaning against the wall.

I walk off to the bathroom and change quickly, then head back, dirty shirt and pants in hand.

"Where are you going to keep those?" Malfoy asks, looking at my Firewhiskey-smelling clothes. I slap a hand to my forehead. "Oh, I forgot about that!"

"Just stuff them in a broom closet and you can get them tomorrow," he suggests. I think it's a good idea, so we head off to the nearest one. I open it to find Dom snogging Josh inside.

Malfoy and I look at each other in disbelief. They're so involved, they haven't even noticed the door open. I close it as quietly as I can and we walk away slowly.

"I have to say I'm surprised," Malfoy mutters after a while.

"I know," I agree. "You'd think me tying him up with ribbons would give him the hint that he should just_ not, _but no."

I find another broom closet, thankfully empty this time, and stuff my clothes in the back. I head back out, but we hear Filch and his cane. I look at Malfoy with wide eyes, and he darts into the closet, pulling me in after him and closes the door.

Inside the closet, it's hot, dark and cramped. My face is almost pressed into Malfoy's chest and Merlin, he smells good. Something musky and masculine that I can't quite identify. I shake my head and listen for Filch.

I hear him hobbling along outside, then he pauses right outside the close door. Malfoy holds my wrist tighter, and I inhale to keep myself calm (that smell releases dopamine or oxytocin or something, I swear. It's probably one of those Muggle colognes that claim to attract women like flypaper).

"Mrs. Norris!" calls Filch in a cracked voice. He starts tapping around outside, and I inhale again. I'll really have to ask him (Malfoy that is, in some subtle, non-obvious way) what cologne he uses.

Eventually Filch moves away, the tapping of his cane fading. I sigh and relief and turn around to try to open the door, but the handle is jammed. I jerk the handle more forcefully but nothing happens. My claustrophobia kicks in and I start to hyperventilate.

"Weasley?" says Malfoy, alarmed. "Weasley! What's going on?"

"It won't open," I gasp.

He presses his hands to my shoulders. "Relax!" He reaches past me and pulls the handle in towards us, then twists it and the door opens. I stumble out, taking deep breaths.

Malfoy steps out after me and looks at me in concern. "What was that?" He pulls out a handkerchief and gives it to me.

It's so strange to see him genuinely worried, I respond honestly. "When I was little, we visited a farm in Dorset, and I fell down a well. I was stuck for hours before someone rescued me and now I'm really claustrophobic."

"Oh." His ears turn red. "Sorry I pulled you in."

I clasp the handkerchief to my chest. "Malfoy apologizing? Again? The apocalypse must be near."

"I can see you're feeling fine now," he says sourly.

"It's alright though," I add. "I'd rather that than detention again. Remember the last time?"

He starts laughing. "That nutter offered to forgive you and you offered to make sure he could never have kids. How could I forget?"

"The same thing applies to you," I threaten him.

"Don't do the females of the world a disservice," he smirks.

"More like I'd be doing the future children of the world a service."

He frowns at me. "I'd be a great dad!"

I just look at him.

"What?" he demands. "I love kids!"

"I can't see that. At all. _Ever._"

"I do!" he insists. "I wish I had a younger sibling!"

I shake my head. "No, you don't."

He smirks at me. "Mine would be more normal than yours."

"Hugo's normal!" I defend my brother, then realize how ridiculous it sounds. Malfoy snorts but lets it go.

"Do you want to go back to the party?" Malfoy asks.

I yawn. "No, I'm tired, and at this point, James has probably hoisted up his robes and is pulling bunches of flowers out of his-"

"Yeah, your cousin's a charmer," Malfoy interrupts me. "But I really don't need that image."

It's my turn to smirk. "I doubt your eyes are that innocent, Malfoy. Anyway, I'm going upstairs."

"I'll come," he says. "I'm bored and won't be able to sleep."

I frown at him. "Do you ever sleep?"

"Yeah of course, but recently, I've been a little worked up," he admits.

"Right," I say. "Any news?"

He smiles. "She's awake for around four hours a day now, eating one solid meal, and she writes me letters."

"That's really great," I say, and mean it.

"Can I tell her it was you?" he asks suddenly.

I blush. "I really didn't do anything."

We stop - we're outside the portrait hole now - and he turns to face me. "Are you mad?"

"Um. No?"

He does that thing where he makes intense eye contact and his eyes go silver. "You know that if it wasn't for you, she wouldn't be alive!"

"That's not true! Anyone could have had the idea for the bezoar!"

"But you did, Rose! Not someone else!"

Every time he calls me Rose it takes me completely by surprise.

"Do you know why I thought of it?" I ask, more quietly. He shakes his head.

"I don't know if you remember, but one time I was writing a Potions essay in this common room, and you were sitting across from me," I remind him. "It was on the use of bezoars. You were the one who corrected my essay and told me they had detoxifying properties."

He looks extremely surprised, but recovers. "Still, in that case, I should have made the connection, but I didn't."

"You were stressed!" I argue. "I would have been!"

Suddenly, he pulls me into a hug.

"Stop being modest, Rose," he whispers into my ear. Hesitantly, I hug him back. We stay like that for ten seconds, the whole time during which my brain is imploding, then he lets go, smiles at me and walks downstairs.

I turn to find the Fat Lady staring grumpily at me, which kills the mood.

"What would your father say?" she says disapprovingly.

"Balderdash," I respond, which conveniently happens to be the password, and she swings open. I climb in and head straight up to my dorm. It's completely empty. I pull off my dress and slide between the sheets.

It's cold in here, and I turn over, shivering. There's a patch of moonlight shining on the floor beside my bed, and I see Malfoy's handkerchief on the floor where it must have fallen from my dress - I realize I never gave it back. I reach out and pick it up, intending to put it on my nightstand to give back tomorrow. But that smell drifts from it, so I inhale a little more, and before I know it, I'm asleep.

**A/N: Relatively reasonable update time, wouldn't you say? (For me, that is. I have special standards.) I would have updated sooner, but I was in Banff, which, by the way, is gorgeous. Go Canada.**

**Anywho, I'm thinking what with all the Scorpius chapter requests I'm getting, I might just do several outtakes from his perspective AFTER I finish this story. There's still a LONG way to go. Like we're slightly less than half done. Also, I can't remember if I mentioned this, but I hope to start posting my new story, Partners Against Crime, also a Rose/Scorp, sometime next month. I promise it will be very different from anything else you've read on this site.**

**Enough of my babbling, I'll let you get to reviewing (which I just know you were dearly waiting to do, yes?)**

**~Meg xx**


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